- Date
- December 4, 1987, 20:30 local (Dec 5, 1987, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Dunsmuir, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N123JYPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19871204069169A
- Case key
- 25919
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
A Piper PA-38-112 collided with terrain while on a night VFR cross country flight. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The pilot received a weather briefing prior to departure. His destination weather was marginal and he did not update his weather briefing enroute. The pilot was flying down a valley at an altitude of 6,500 feet MSL following an interstate under an overcast ceiling which the pilot reported at 7,500 feet MSL. The pilot indicated he encountered strong winds and turbulence. He then flew into clouds lost altitude and crashed into trees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N123JY
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78 A0633
- Airframe hours
- 1,662
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gene H. Rhoades
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 8, 1987 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- MFR · Medford, OR
- Destination
- RDD · Redding, 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 125 total · 105 in this make and model · 75 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDD, 65 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.