- Date
- December 22, 1989, 17:47 local (Dec 23, 1989, 01:47 UTC)
- Place
- Big Bear, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4111WPiper PA-32-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 26, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891222052919A
- Case key
- 26709
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 improper level-off and improper recovery from a bounced landing.
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 landed hard, bounced several times, and the aircraft departed the side of the runway and collided with a three foot dirt berm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4111W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-40174
- Engine
- Lycoming IO540-KIA5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William A. Mcdowell
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
- Airport
- L35 · Big Bear, runway 7, 5,850 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 660 total · 190 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Temperature
- 36 °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.