- Date
- May 1, 1978
- Place
- Palmdale, CA · PALMDALE, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Uncontrolled descent
- Aircraft
- N5851SBeech S35
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 1978
- Report
- Brief approved by the director
- FAA report
- 19780501027799A
- Case key
- 142128
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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NTSB brief
NTSB’s brief of the accident, as it was printed: the coded facts, with the probable cause and factors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA F S M/N PURPOSE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3-2435 78/5/1 PALMDALE,CA BEECH S35 CR- 1 0 0 NONCOMMERCIAL PRIVATE, AGE 66, UNK/NR TIME - 1039 N5851S PX- 0 0 0 PLEASURE/PERSONAL TRANSP TOTAL HOURS, UNK/NR IN DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0 TYPE, NOT INSTRUMENT RATED. DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION BAKERSFIELD,CA PARKER,AZ TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION AIRFRAME FAILURE: IN FLIGHT IN FLIGHT: UNCONTROLLED DESCENT PROBABLE CAUSE(S) PILOT IN COMMAND - CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS PILOT IN COMMAND - SPATIAL DISORIENTATION PILOT IN COMMAND - EXCEEDED DESIGNED STRESS LIMITS OF AIRCRAFT FACTOR(S) WEATHER - OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - SEPARATION IN FLIGHT WEATHER BRIEFING - BRIEFED BY FLIGHT SERVICE PERSONNEL, BY PHONE WEATHER FORECAST - FORECAST SUBSTANTIALLY CORRECT SKY CONDITION CEILING AT ACCIDENT SITE BROKEN 8000 VISIBILITY AT ACCIDENT SITE PRECIPITATION AT ACCIDENT SITE 5 OR OVER(UNLIMITED) UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED OBSTRUCTIONS TO VISION AT ACCIDENT SITE TYPE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED VFR TYPE OF FLIGHT PLAN NONE REMARKS- ACFT OBSERVED BELOW BASE OF CLOUDS SPINNING WITH LEFT WING & TAIL SURFACES MISSING.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5851S
- Reported as
- Beech S35
- Category
- Airplane
- Engine
- reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.