- Date
- January 18, 1990, 20:14 local (Jan 19, 1990, 04:14 UTC)
- Place
- Burbank, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8251BPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 18, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900118000709A
- Case key
- 26608
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
Poor judgement of the instructor pilot (CFI) due to his impairment from use of marijuana, inadequate supervision of the flight by the CFI, and his failure to assure that adequate airspeed was maintained, which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Factors related to the accident were: the cfi's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, and his failure to assure the aircraft was within its certified gross weight limit.
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 acft was scheduled for a ngt instrument training flt with 2 additional plts aboard, who were seeking instrument ratings. Shortly after taking off from rwy 7, the instructor (CFI) radioed to the tower that an immediate lndg was necessary, but he did not give a reason. The flt was clrd to land. The acft was then observed to enter a steep left turn at low alt & descend abruptly. It crashed in a steep descent about 500 ft north of rwy 7 on a heading of about 260 deg. Impact occurred in a left wing low, nose down attitude. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the acft or eng was found. Tests of the cfi's blood showed that it contained 1 ng/ml of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (a psychoactive component of marijuana) & 7 ng/ml of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (a metabolite of marijuana). Gross wt of the acft was estimated to be 2411 lbs; its max certified gross wt was 2325 lbs.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8251B
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8216182
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Daniel Tompkins, doing business as Pilots Coop Supply
- Registered owner
- John F. Campbell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 1989
- Departed
- BUR
- Destination
- SBA · Santa Barbara, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BUR · Burbank, runway 7, 6,074 × 150 ft, macadam
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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,100 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BUR, 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.