- Date
- March 2, 1986, 23:12 local (Mar 3, 1986, 07:12 UTC)
- Place
- Newport Beach, CA
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N81918Piper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860302006849A
- Case key
- 24904
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 was rprted to be on a dual, night recurrent, training flt. The student plt's wife rprtd that the flt instructor(CFI) & her husband had been drinking beer before they & the passenger (another student plt) departed on the flt. Ground witnesses observed the acft fly very low over a pier at Newport Beach, then enter a rgt climbing turn. As the acft continued the turn, it began a descent & subsequently contacted the ocean, cartwheeled & sank. An exam of the wreckage revealed the acft had impacted in a nose low, rgt wing low attitude. Toxicology exams revealed the student had a blood/alcohol level of 0.11%, but only a slight amount of alcohol (0.02%) was found in the cfi's blood. Tests for drugs showed the student had 0.32 micrograms/ml of benzoylecgonine in his blood. Also, in 1 of 2 tests for cocaine, the student's blood tested positive. Toxicology checks of the passenger for alcohol & drugs were negative. The CFI had only 392 hrs total flt time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81918
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 27-8090288
- Airframe hours
- 796
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Flight Center
- Registered owner
- Lynn R. Rowbotham
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 30, 1986 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- SNA · Santa Ana, CA
- Airport
- SNA · John Wayne/Orange
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
- 20
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 392 total · 291 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SNA, 5 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.