- Date
- February 23, 1983, 21:00 local (Feb 24, 1983, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Descanso, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3687CCessna 180J
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830223005109A
- Case key
- 23557
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 non-instrument rated plt was on a flt from farmington, NM to el cajon, CA, but made a stop at borrego springs, CA where a passenger deplaned. Before departing farmington, he obtainend a wx briefing for the trip, but only filed a flt plan for the 1st leg when told of bad wx along the 2nd leg. At borrego springs, no aviation fuel was available. The plt was concerned about having enough fuel for the remainder of the flt so he obtained 2-1/2 gal of supreme unleaded auto fuel. On the next leg of the flt, the acft crashed in mountainous terrain. A witness said he heard the eng sputter then saw the acft come out of the clouds in a 65 deg angle. He estimated the bottom of the clouds were about 400 to 500 ft AGL. Also, he described the wx as rainy, heavy at times, with low ceilings & some breaks in the overcast. A teardown of the eng revealed no evidence of a preimpact, mechanical failure. The acft was too badly damaged to determinethe amount of fuel that was in the tanks prior to impact. The elevation of the crash site was about 3900 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3687C
- Reported as
- Cessna 180J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31186
- Engine
- Continental O-470-A, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Frederic H. Hiller
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 14, 1982 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- L08 · Borren Springs, CA
- Destination
- SEE · El Cajon, CA
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 640 total · 130 in this make and model · 566 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 27.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SAN, 30 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.