- Date
- May 10, 1989, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Azusa, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N39YVBeech 200
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 10, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890510011329A
- Case key
- 26228
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
Improper in-flight planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in has inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and subsequent collision with mountainous terrain. The weather and terrain conditions were considered to be related factors.
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
Before the flt, the plts of 2 Beech 200 acft evaluated wx rprts at a fixed base operation & made a computer wx inquiry. They departed santa monica, CA, on a positioning flt to farmington, NM, without filing a flt plan. While en route, the lead acft was about 1 to 3 min ahead of the 2nd acft. The 2nd plt rprtd they were at about 4500 ft MSL as they neared mtns & the clouds were about 1000 ft above. As they contd eastward in a valley, the 2nd plt heard the lead plt rprt he was 'going up.' This was the last known transmission from the lead acft. The 2nd plt continued his flt in VMC. Two days later, the lead acft was found, where it had crashed about 100 ft below the top of a 7400 ft mtn ridge. Impact occurred on a hdg of about 030 deg. The mtn ridge was oriented on hdgs of 060 & 240 deg.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39YV
- Reported as
- Beech 200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- BB-39
- Airframe hours
- 10,267
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-41, 1,025 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Mesa Airlines, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Mesa Airlines, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · May 3, 1989 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- SMO · Santa Monica, CA
- Destination
- FMN · Farmington, NM
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
- 39
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 11,500 total · 125 in this make and model · 10,000 as pilot in command · 75 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.