- Date
- July 16, 1988, 16:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Compton, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N40808Piper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 10, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880716026869A
- Case key
- 25849
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 student plt was taking his 2 grandchildren & 1 of their friends on a local flt. Ground witnesses observed the airplane lift off and continue in an excessively high angle of attack climb attitude. When the airplane reached abt 150 ft a.g.l. it stalled, entered a left spin, and crashed. The postcrash wreckage exam dsclsd no evidence of any preexisting aircraft malfunctions or failures. The student plt began his flying on 7/22/79; he had logged 186 hours of which 51 were as PIC.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N40808
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28 7425170
- Airframe hours
- 2,378
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Smith, Claude
- Registered owner
- Smith, Claude E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 28, 1987 · 43 hours before
- Airport
- CPM · Compton, runway 25R, 3,760 × 60 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
- 57
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 186 total · 186 in this make and model · 51 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.