- Date
- January 22, 1989, 00:20 local (08:20 UTC)
- Place
- Lake View, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N26313Grumman AA5A
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 26207
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
The pilot's inadvertent flight into a box canyon.
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
While on a VFR flight to whiteman airport the pilot elected to fly around the airport north of the burbank arsa after passing west of the airport. The area to the north of the airport contains high mountainous terrain which was obscured by clouds. The pilot inadvertently entered into a box canyon and collided with the terrain when he was executing a 180 degree turn.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26313
- Reported as
- Grumman AA5A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5A-0528
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2G, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Merlin Thomas Glass, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HMT · Hemet, CA
- Destination
- WHP · Pacoima, CA
- Airport
- WHP
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
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 800 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,600 ft broken
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BUR, 8 nm away