- Date
- January 25, 1992, 11:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Mountain Pass, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N8432KPiper PA28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920125001059A
- Case key
- 27403
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 pilots failure to maintain the aircraft's airspeed above the stall speed (vs) that resulted in an inadvertent entry into a stall/spin.
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 airplane took off on a cross country flight under visual flight rules to return to its home airport. While enroute, the pilot opened his VFR flight plan via radio with flight service. This was the last contact with the pilot. A ground witness who lives in the desert near the accident site stated that he heard a noise like an engine cutting out followed by noise resembling a car door slamming. A search was initiated for the airplane when it became overdue. The airplane wreckage and the fatally injured pilot and passengers were found the next day. The airplane struck the ground in a right wing low, stall spin attitude. All the wreckage was located in the immediate vicinity of the point of ground impact. The pilot obtained his private pilot airman certificate ten months prior to the accident and had logged approximately 85 flying hours in the same type airplane. There were no malfunctions or failures found with the engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8432K
- Reported as
- Piper PA28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8116309
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Art Scholl Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Art Scholl Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 22, 1991
- Departed
- PO6 · Bullhead City, AZ
- Destination
- L67 · Rialto, CA
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 85 total · 85 in this make and model · 26 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 18 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Observed at
- LAS, 47 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.