- Date
- February 6, 1986, 22:03 local (Feb 7, 1986, 06:03 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Bragg, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8338NPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860206002279A
- Case key
- 24899
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 arriving at the mendocino county arpt, at about 1630 PST, the plt & pax obtained a car & went to mendocino for dinner. Drg the evening, they consumed svrl drinks & had a bottle of wine with their dinner, then went back to the arpt. Altho it was a dark ngt, the plt took off (twd the ocean at aprx 2200 PST) without activating the rwy lgts. After takeoff, the acft departed on a southerly hdg ovr an area with 'very few ground lights.' Subsequently, it crashed in a redwood forest about 1 mi south of the arpt. An inv revealed that the initial impact occurred while the acft was dscndg in a shallow dive on a westerly hdg. No preimpact part failure/malfunction was fnd. A toxicology check indicated the plt had an alcohol lvl of 0.204%. The last entry in his log book for a ngt flt was dated 5/15/83.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8338N
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8190169
- Airframe hours
- 1,755
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lets Fly, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Gilbert A. Nankivil
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 6, 1985 · 55 hours before
- Departed
- 048
- Destination
- STS · Santa Rosa, CA
- Airport
- Mendocino County, runway 29, 5,250 × 150 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 265 total · 265 in this make and model · 220 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.