- Date
- May 12, 1991, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Catalina Island, CA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4291VPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910512015219A
- Case key
- 27206
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 inadequate altitude and intentional low flying which resulted in the airplane cruising into the water. A contributing factor related to the pilot's poor judgment.
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
During a pleasure flight the pilot, and his three passengers flew from Catalina to san diego, CA. During the flight the pilot allowed the airplane to descend to the earth's surface. The nose wheel and the left main landing gear wheel collided with the water. As a result, the nose gear bent aft and the left wheel assembly separated from the strut. The impact also resulted in the strut's wing attachment assembly being pushed upward through the cambered surface of the wing. The pilot originally asserted that the mishap occurred during a rough takeoff. The pilot subsequently asserted that the damage occurred upon colliding with the ocean.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4291V
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8390023
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Plus One Flyers, Inc.
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- AVX · Avalon, CA
- Destination
- MYF · San Diego, CA
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 802 total · 124 in this make and model · 701 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °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.