- Date
- March 13, 1983, 18:14 local (Mar 14, 1983, 02:14 UTC)
- Place
- Chatsworth, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8201VMooney M20J
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830313009249A
- Case key
- 23434
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 collided with powerlines 177 AGL during flt in adverse weather. About 2 miles from the site of the powerline collision the acft had collided with hilly terrain about 500 ft higher than the powerline. The pilot had received a weather briefing and parts of his route was IMC. During his flt enroute weather updates showed worse weather & VFR flt was not recommended & a site to land VFR was suggested. At 1814 hours a power outage occurred because of a broken power line at CA. State highway 14 and interstate 5. Witnesses reported the weather at that time to be heavy rainand fog & rptd seeing the flash as the acft hit the powerline. Part of the acft rudder was found in the vicinity of the broken powerline. The wreckage was located about 2.4 NM southwest of the broken powerline at 2300 ft MSL near chatsworthca. There was fire after impact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8201V
- Reported as
- Mooney M20J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-0608
- Airframe hours
- 895
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A3B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- C & K Aviation
- Registered owner
- James Eberhardt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 1983 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- MML · Mommoth Lakes, CA
- Destination
- SMO · Santa Monica, CA
- Airport
- None
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 240 total · 129 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.