- Date
- September 19, 1990, 15:34 local (22:34 UTC)
- Place
- Mount Wilson, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6528JPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900919041239A
- Case key
- 26925
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 IMC. Contributing factors related to the pilot's failure to request in-flight weather avoidance assistance and his misjudged evaluation of the en route weather.
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 non-instrument rated 2800-HR private pilot was experienced in the airplane and familiar with the route of flight. The pilot observed the dark overcast sky conditions in the direction of his planned trip, & indicated that while en route if the weather deteriorated he would return to the departure airport. The pilot took off under VFR conditions & headed in an easterly direction. Eight min later the pilot contacted radar & requested flight following service toward his easterly destination. Two min later the airplane was identified on radar, & two min thereafter radar contact was lost. The last four min of recorded radar showed that the airplane had climbed from 2600 ft to 3500 feet MSL & had turned 90 deg left from an easterly to a northerly course. Nearby weather reporting facilities indicated the cloud base & tops were respectively 3800 ft & 5700 ft MSL. The crash site was 4750 ft MSL.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6528J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-4966
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mc Collough, Floyd
- Registered owner
- Mccollough, Floyd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BUR · Burbank, CA
- Destination
- IPL · Imperial, 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
- 63
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,800 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 7 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EMT, 9 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.