- Date
- August 23, 1988, 20:58 local (Aug 24, 1988, 03:58 UTC)
- Place
- Inyokern, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5769YMooney M20J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880823035329A
- Case key
- 25857
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
Pilots inflight loss of control after encountering a level four thunderstorm on a night VFR cross country. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to obtain a preflight weather briefing.
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
Weather reports from a nearby airport and witness observations indicate that a level 4 thunderstorms was near the accident site as the acft approached. The plt did not obtain a preflt wx briefing for this night VFR cross country. The wx information available at the time he departed clearly noted the thunderstorm with heavy rain and lightening present on his route. Radar data showed the acft tracking along a highway with the mode c reporting erratic altitude jumps. The radar data showed the acft turn right tightly and descend at a rapid rate. Evidence at the site showed the acft contacted the ground in a 60 degree right bank turn with the nose down at about 40 degrees and at a high rate of speed. The plt was not current for night flt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5769Y
- Reported as
- Mooney M20J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1496
- Airframe hours
- 1,632
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A3B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Flightworks Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Adam R. Felde
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 30, 1988 · 32 hours before
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Destination
- MMH · Mammoth, 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 488 total · 297 in this make and model · 260 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- NID, 14 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.