- Date
- April 29, 1987, 17:30 local (Apr 30, 1987, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Newhall, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8444APiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 24, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870429012549A
- Case key
- 25398
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
At about 1440 PDT, the non-instrument rated plt depd antioch CA, on a flt to burbank, CA. No known in-flt communicationswere made until the plt contacted TRACON at 1725 PDT. At that time, he rprtd inbound at 7500' & requested a special VFR clnc to the arpt. He was told to maint VFR & was adzd the wx at burbank (elev 775') was 700' overcast with 1 mi vis, fog & lgt drizzle. Several minutes later, communication with the acft was lost. Subsequently, the acft crashed on a ridgeline aprx 9 mi nnw of the burbank arpt. Impact occurred in a shallow, wings level descent at an elevation of about 2600'. No preimpact part malfunction or failure was evident. No record was found of a pre-flt wx briefing. Mtns tops in the area were forecast to be obscured; cloud tops were rprtd at 4500'. Traces of medication (metabolites of chlorpheniramine & benzodiazipine) were detected only in the plt's urine; toxicology tests of his blood were negativefor alcohol & drugs.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8444A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8290023
- Airframe hours
- 1,542
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- E. M. Briggs, Md.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 25, 1986 · 195 hours before
- Departed
- 012 · Antioch, CA
- Destination
- BUR · Burbank, 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 910 total · 910 in this make and model · 895 as pilot in command · 68 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 4 knots
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BUR, 11 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.