- Date
- June 12, 1988, 01:15 local (08:15 UTC)
- Place
- Palm Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N43310Piper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880612021439A
- Case key
- 26033
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 misjudged the altitude of the mountain peak.
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 flight dept on a dark night, but the pilot reported the prevailing visibility was greater than 25 miles. After departing the pilot turned left and began an on-course climb toward a mountainous area. When the airplane neared the mountain peak the pilot immediately pulled up, but the airplane collided with the mountain peak. The pilot and pax reported that the airplane did not experience any preimpact malfunctions or failures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43310
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8490028
- Airframe hours
- 1,921
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mercury Air Center
- Registered owner
- Alexander, Mike A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 27, 1988 · 55 hours before
- Departed
- PSP
- Destination
- SBA · Goleta, CA
- Airport
- psp · Palm Springs, runway 30, 8,500 × 150 ft, dirt
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 118 total · 20 in this make and model · 50 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.