- Date
- January 16, 1988, 19:00 local (Jan 17, 1988, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chico, CA
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2977TAero Commander 200D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880116000689A
- Case key
- 25937
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 the end of a cross country flt, while in the pattern turning from base to final, the plt stated that the arpt environment was lost. At the same time, the instrument white lights, under the glareshield began to flicker which drowned out the normal instrument lighting. The plt does not remember the occurrences from aprx 1000 ft AGL while turning to final to the time the acft collided with the terrain, aprx 1 mile short of the rwy. Other than the flickering lights, there were no other mechanical failures or malfunctions reported.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2977T
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 200D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 350
- Airframe hours
- 1,646
- Engine
- Continental IO-520A, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Clark, Robert R.
- Registered owner
- Clark, Robert R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 4, 1987 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- HHR · Hawthorne, CA
- Destination
- CIC · Chico, CA
- Airport
- CIC · Chico, runway 13, 6,724 × 150 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
- 65
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,630 total · 800 in this make and model · 12 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 120° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CIC, 1 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.