- Date
- May 7, 1988, 12:14 local (19:14 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Paula, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3322VBeech 35
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880507016729A
- Case key
- 25834
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Pilot's failure to maintain an airspeed at which the aircraft is controllable and above the stall speed.
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 non-instrument rated pilot and his passenger took off on a cross country flight over mountainous terrain without obtaining a weather briefing or filing a flight plan. The cloud levels at the airport of departure were reported as scattered clouds at 2,500 feet and broken clouds at 10,000 feet. A radar plot of the aircraft's track after takeoff shows that it turned onto course while climbing. It made a 360 degree climbing turn through 4,500-5,000 feet and continued climbing towards its destination. As the aircraft reached 9,500 feet it entered a spiraling descent. The aircraft's wreckage was found on a mountain two weeks after the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3322V
- Reported as
- Beech 35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D783
- Engine
- Continental E-185-1, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Morton, Francis W.
- Registered owner
- Morton, Francis & Ruth
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 20, 1988
- Departed
- OXR · Oxnard, CA
- Destination
- PVT · Porterville, 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
- 61
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,647 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OXR, 26 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.
Other investigations on N3322V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.