- Date
- March 10, 1990, 22:55 local (Mar 11, 1990, 06:55 UTC)
- Place
- Malibu, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2951SPiper PA28-161
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900310004619A
- Case key
- 26620
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 decision to turn into an area of known high terrain after inadvertently encountering instrument meteorological conditions.
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 pilot and his three passengers took off on a flight under instrument flight rules and in instrument meteorological conditions to another airport for dinner. After dinner the pilot and his passengers took off on a night flight, under visual flight rules, to return to their home airport. The aircraft initially climbed to 2700 feet MSL then began a slow enroute descent. Radar contact with the aircraft was lost as it descended through 1800 feet MSL while tracking over the coast on an easterly heading. The aircraft impacted a mountain, north of the coast line, at an elevation of 1600 feet, while in level flight and while on a westerly heading.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2951S
- Reported as
- Piper PA28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 287916579
- Engine
- Lycoming O320-DTG, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kazuhiko Nakamura
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- OXR · Oxnard, CA
- Destination
- SMO · Santa Monica, 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
- 38
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 6,737 total · 161 in the last 90 days · 69 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- 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.