- Date
- November 17, 1985, 19:55 local (Nov 18, 1985, 03:55 UTC)
- Place
- Lebec, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N43602Piper PA 28-151
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19851117057589A
- Case key
- 24883
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
After receiving a preflight wx briefing that forecast strong headwinds, over mountainous terrain, severe turbulence and pireps of severe turbulence on the proposed flt route. The instructor plt and his student instrument plt took off for a night IFR training flt. The acft entered a mountain wave and descended into a mountain. Although another acft in the area suggested the descending acft make a 180 turn there was no effort on the part of the plt to maneuver the acft out of the wave or the ARTCC controller to direct the acft to reverse course.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43602
- Reported as
- Piper PA 28-151
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 287415535
- Airframe hours
- 4,640
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aero Assoc. Of Cal. Tech, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1985 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- EMT · El Monte, CA
- Destination
- BFL · Bakersfield, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 6,400 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 50° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BFL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.