- Date
- August 27, 1983, 20:27 local (Aug 28, 1983, 03:27 UTC)
- Place
- Upland, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N47980Piper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830827053079A
- Case key
- 23836
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 plt reported that the acft had an alternator failure in the vicinity of cajon pass. He requested & was provided radar vectors toward the rialto muni arpt. However, the plt saw cable arpt, aprx 14 mi west of rialto, & thought it was rialto muni. Reportedly, the plt reduced his electrical load to conserve battery power & had the front seat passenger hold a flashlight on his instruments. During his apch to the cable arpt (which he thought was rialto muni), he heard a Cessna broadcasting that he was on final at rialto. When the plt (of N47980) could not see the other acft, he decided to turn on the anti-collision light. He reported that the flashlight beam was removed from his airspeed indicator at a critical time on final apch, causing confusion in the cockpit. Subsequently, the acft was landed with excessive airspeed, overran the rwy & experienced an on-ground collision with terrain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N47980
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7816177
- Airframe hours
- 1,540
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Andrews Refrigeration Manuf.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 7, 1983 · 74 hours before
- Departed
- EKO · Elko, NV
- Destination
- L66 · Corona, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- CCB · Cable, runway 24, 3,785 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 370 total · 310 in this make and model · 310 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ONT, 6 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.