- Date
- October 21, 1990, 18:02 local (Oct 22, 1990, 01:02 UTC)
- Place
- Goleta, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N13670Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901021046469A
- Case key
- 26960
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 failure to maintain proper glidepath while on final approach. A contributing factor was sunglare.
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 plt was instructed to enter a left base leg in the traffic pattern to land on rwy 25, for the purpose of maintaining separation from other landing traffic. The air traffic controller additionally instructed the plt to make the base leg square. Review of the airplane's flight path as depicted by FAA drawings illustrated an approach pattern similar to a long final approach. Witnesses on the ground about 1 1/2 miles from the airport on the rwy 25 extended centerline stated that the airplane overflew their homes at a low altitude. There were no reports of unusual engine noises. Air traffic controllers observed the airplane in a rapid descent immediately before the accident. There was no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction with the airplane before the accident. The azimuth and angle above the horizon of the sun was 241.1 deg and 2.8 deg. Respectively.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N13670
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 62929
- Airframe hours
- 5,758
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mercury Air Center
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 10, 1990 · 22 hours before
- Departed
- SZP · Santa Paula, CA
- Airport
- SBA · Santa Barbara, runway 25, 6,049 × 150 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 118 total · 40 in this make and model · 64 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 240° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBA, 7 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.