- Date
- August 8, 1982, 19:30 local (Aug 9, 1982, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Corcoran, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N47489Piper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 8, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820808035249A
- Case key
- 70338
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft crashed approximately 25 minutes after takeoff. There were no witnesses to the accident. The crash site was a plowed & cultivated seed alfalfa farm land. Ground scars reveal that the acft struck the ground in a level flight attitude, all wheels simultaneously. The flaps were fully extended. The plt's blood alcohol level was 335 mg% with putrefaction evident. The passenger's blood alcohol level was 138 mg% with no evidence of putrefaction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N47489
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7816081
- Airframe hours
- 1,280
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Porterville Aviation
- Registered owner
- James R. Bentz
- Departed
- AI · Porterville, CA
- Destination
- AI · Coalinga, CA
- Airport
- CRO · Corcoran
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.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- 194 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.