- Date
- March 13, 1991, 10:12 local (18:12 UTC)
- Place
- Gorman, CA
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3302QCessna 320D
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910313005509A
- Case key
- 26987
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
VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) by the pilot, and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance from mountainous terrain. Factors related to the accident were: the terrain and weather 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 acft had been in the phoenix area for repairs & for instn of avionics, and was on a trip to anchorage via seattle. Bfr depg lake havasu city, the plt rcvd a wx briefing, but did not file a flt plan. There were flt prctns for moderate turbc below 16,000', moderate icing in clds & mtn obscn. The plt reqd & rcvd tfc adzy from edwards apch ctl while transiting the palmdale ata. During that time, he reqd & rcvd the bakersfield wx. At about 1007 PST, radar service was terminated. About 1 min later, radar ctc was lost as the acft was cruising at 4500' MSL. Subsequently, the acft crashed into rising trrn in the tehachapi mts, about 15 mi from where radar ctc was lost. Impact occurred about 75' below the top of a ridge at an elev of about 6000'. An exam of the crash site revealed evidence the acft had crashed in a wings level attitude. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the acft or eng was fnd.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3302Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 320D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0102
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-B, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John P. Culhane
- Registered owner
- John P. Culhane
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- LHU · Lake Havasu Cty, AZ
- Destination
- SEA · Seattle, WA
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 16 knots, gusting 23
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Observed at
- PMD, 30 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.