- Date
- March 17, 1987, 22:40 local (Mar 18, 1987, 06:40 UTC)
- Place
- Jamestown, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5393PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report June 16, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870317082669A
- Case key
- 25391
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
During the night cross country flt, the accident acft, in company with 2 others, was trying to land at the dest airport in hilly terrain. As the 3 acft approached the airport they encountered bkn to ovrcst conditions of about 400 ft AGL and vis of 2 mi in rain. The first 2 acft landed safely, but the accident acft made a go around because the plt said via radio that he 'lost sight of the rwy after entering a cloud.' On the radio, the plt said that he was in the clouds, followed by a remark 'there's the moon.' Over the radio, the plt told the other plts that he was going to a nearby airport to wait for better wx. Gnd witness heard the acft circling several times in the vicinity of the accident site before hearing sounds of impact. Exam of the site revealed that the acft struck a large pine tree near the top with its right wing. The acft collided with the ground in a steep inverted nose down attitude. The extended wreckage bearing was aligned with the dest airport, which was 8 mi away.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5393P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-444
- Airframe hours
- 3,109
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1A5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Walter E. East
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SAC · Sacramento, CA
- Destination
- O22 · Columbia, 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
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,300 total · 95 in this make and model · 1,250 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 48 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.