- Date
- January 31, 1993, 22:30 local (Feb 1, 1993, 06:30 UTC)
- Place
- Columbia, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N16SCPiper PA-31
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 15, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930131001319A
- Case key
- 27917
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 a proper glidepath while on short final approach. A factor in the accident was the dark night lighting conditions which may have affected the pilot's perceptual awareness of the airport environment and the cues for a proper visual approach slope guidance.
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 pilot said that he turned on a one to one and one half mile base for runway 35 and keyed his microphone to activate the pilot controlled lighting system. The pilot said that on final approach he noticed that the VASI lights were not operating. He further reported that everything seemed fine on final approach until about 200 feet AGL when he said he became aware of a loss in altitude. The pilot stated that he began applying power to correct the situation and then observed a tree top pass the copilots window. Examination of the aircraft revealed that the right wing had collided with the tree. An FAA inspector stated that the tree contacted by the aircraft was about 30 feet tall and located about 600 feet from the approach end of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16SC
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-639
- Airframe hours
- 5,108
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-A2B, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard L. Stockton
- Registered owner
- Tom Elpin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 20, 1992 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- P06 · Bullhead City, AZ
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- O22 · Columbia, runway 35, 4,060 × 75 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,601 total · 663 in this make and model · 7,055 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 80° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N16SC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.