- Date
- December 31, 1988, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wrightwood, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5369LPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881231057079A
- Case key
- 26198
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
According to the passenger, during a cross country flight the airplane encountered instrument meteorological conditions. The pilot flew the airplane toward a mountain range and entered a valley with rising terrain. Still in IMC, just prior to the accident, the passenger reported, the pilot saw the terrain and began a left turn. The airplane collided with the terrain during the maneuver. There were no mechanical failures or malfunctions noted during the post crash investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5369L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-4675
- Airframe hours
- 3,091
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Clevenger, John B.
- Registered owner
- Clevenger, John B
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 4, 1988 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- SBA · Santa Barbara, 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 700 total · 595 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ONT, 15 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.