# NTSB LAX95FA072: Cessna A185F, N94296, Tehachapi, CA, January 3, 1995 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Field investigation · Final report - Date: January 3, 1995, 10:52 local (18:52 UTC) - Place: Tehachapi, CA - Coordinates: 35.120414, -118.510459 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.1204&lon=-118.5105&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal - Status: Completed, report June 13, 1996 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 28905 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX95FA072 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/28905/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=28905 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX95FA072 ## Probable cause THE NONINSTRUMENT-RATED PILOT'S CONTINUED FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED WHILE MANEUVERING TO REVERSE DIRECTION. FACTORS RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, AND ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight encounter with weather, cruise - terrain condition - mountainous/hilly (contributing factor) - weather condition - low ceiling (contributing factor) - weather condition - snow (contributing factor) - weather condition - obscuration (contributing factor) - flight into known adverse weather - continued, pilot in command (cause) - Loss of control - in flight, maneuvering - turn to reverse direction - airspeed - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - stall - inadvertent, pilot in command (cause) - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled ## Analysis FAMILY MEMBERS SAID THAT, BEFORE FLIGHT, THE NONINSTRUMENT-RATED PILOT HAD OBTAINED WEATHER INFORMATION FROM A COMMERCIAL COMPUTER SERVICE (COMPUSERVE); HOWEVER, NO RECORDS WERE FOUND TO VERIFY THE COMPLETENESS OF THE WEATHER INFORMATION THAT HE HAD RECEIVED. CLOUDS AND RAIN WERE FORECAST ALONG THE ROUTE WITH MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION DUE TO CLOUDS, FOG, AND PRECIPITATION. ACCORDING TO MODE C RADAR DATA, THE AIRPLANE DESCENDED TO ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND AS IT ENTERED TEHACHAPI PASS. TWO GROUND WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THEY SAW THE AIRPLANE ABOUT 100 FEET ABOVE AND TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY THAT TRAVERSED THE PASS. THEY COULD BARELY SEE THE AIRCRAFT DUE TO CLOUDS AND SNOW SHOWERS. REPORTEDLY, THE AIRPLANE BEGAN A LEFT TURN, AND THEN THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE PITCHED UP AS THE WINGS CONTINUED INTO A STEEP BANK. THE AIRCRAFT THEN PITCHED NOSE DOWN AND CRASHED INTO THE GROUND. ## Factual narrative HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 3, 1995, at 1052 Pacific standard time, a Cessna A185F, N94296, collided with mountainous terrain after encountering instrument meteorological conditions in a mountain pass near Tehachapi, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot. The weather conditions reported by a National Weather Service observer in the town and by eyewitnesses to the accident consisted of a 50-foot overcast with the visibility 1/2 mile in snow showers. The aircraft was destroyed in the ground collision sequence and postcrash fire. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. The flight originated at Prescott, Arizona, on the day of the accident about 0830 Pacific standard time as a personal flight to Novato, California. According to a statement from the pilot's wife, he flew this route from Prescott to Novato on a regular basis. She noted that the pilot obtained what she described as a "weather briefing" from a computer service called Compuserve just before he left for the airport. Compuserve was contacted and a representative of the company reported that its system recorded two sessions of use for the pilot's account number on January 3, 1995. The first was from 1042:00 to 1045:52 Eastern standard time and the second session was from 1047:07 to 1048:06. The company representative said it had no way of determining in detail what services the customer used during the sessions. The company records do disclose that the user was in the "weather system information" menu and looked at a radar summary map. According to the company, an option in the weather system menu is aviation weather reports. After departure from Prescott, there is no documented record that the pilot communicated with any Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground station. Recorded radar data was obtained from the TRACON facility at Edwards Air Force Base. Review of the data revealed that a VFR beacon code matching the expected track of the aircraft was identified. Radar contact was lost after the target entered the Tehachapi Pass at a time frame matching the accident location and time. The radar data and a flightpath chart are attached to this report. Detailed review of the recorded data disclosed a VFR beacon code target traversing the Mojave Desert in a westerly direction from just south of the city of Barstow. While the target tracked a generally straight line course until reaching a point north of the Palmdale airport, the Mode C reported altitude varied from about 2,000 feet agl to as low as 500 feet. From the location north of Palmdale, the target began a wide S-turn shaped course generally following Highway 14 north until it turned into the Tehachapi Pass. The altitude profile of the target climbed with the terrain and maintained a ground clearance of 600 feet or below. As the target entered the pass, the Mode C reported altitude was 200 feet above the ground. Two ground witnesses located on the highway observed the accident sequence of events. One witness was putting chains on his car tires when his attention was attracted to the sound of a low- flying aircraft. He looked up and observed the aircraft about 100 feet above the ground flying in a westerly direction on the north side of the highway. The witness said he could barely see the aircraft because of the clouds and snow showers. The aircraft began a left turn; the witness saw the nose of the aircraft pitch up in the turn as the wings continued to bank to a near-vertical orientation. The aircraft then pitched nose down and collided with the ground. PERSONNEL INFORMATION No personal flight records were recovered for the pilot. On an insurance application dated August 14, 1994, the pilot reported a total time of 1,684 hours, with 1,271 in the accident aircraft make and model. According to FAA airman record files, the pilot did not hold an instrument rating. No information was available from any source to detail the amount and recency of the pilot's instrument flight time. The pilot's wife stated that her husband flew between Prescott and Novato twice a week. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION No maintenance records were recovered for the aircraft, and family members said they believed the pilot kept the logbooks in the aircraft. A mechanic at the Novato airport who is the holder of an FAA-approved Inspection Authorization stated that he performed an annual inspection on the aircraft in August or September of 1994. The mechanic could not produce detailed records; however, he did state that the engine had a total time of 2,294.6 hours at the time he performed the annual. No information was available regarding dates or times of any engine overhaul. The engine installed in the aircraft was a Continental IO-520-D, serial No. 563984. Cessna Aircraft production records revealed that the engine found on the aircraft was the original factory installation. The aircraft was equipped with Flint Aero auxiliary fuel tanks installed in each outboard wing bay. The fiberglass tanks were each placarded at 12 gallons total, with 11.5 usable gallons. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION No official weather observation stations are located in the Tehachapi Mountains or Pass. A designated observer who reports to the National Weather Service (NWS) is located in the town of Tehachapi, which is located about 2 miles west of the accident site. At the time of the accident, the observer reported sky conditions overcast with visibility 1/2 mile in snow showers. Three eyewitnesses to the accident were located on a highway just below the accident site and also reported that low ceilings existed with very limited visibilities due to snow showers. Federal Aviation Administration records of weather briefings provided by the Flight Service Station (FSS) network disclosed no evidence that the pilot obtained either a preflight weather briefing or in-flight weather advisories. According to a statement from the pilot's wife, he obtained what she described as a "weather briefing" from a computer service called Compuserve just before he left for the airport. Compuserve was contacted and a representative of the company reported that its system recorded two sessions of use for the pilot's account number on January 3, 1995. The company representative said it had no way of determining in detail what services the customer used during the sessions. The company records do disclose that the user was in the "weather system information" menu and looked at a radar summary map. According to the company, an option in the weather system menu is aviation weather reports. Copies of the aviation weather information available on the NWS and FAA systems during the time frame the pilot was on-line with his computer service were obtained and examined. The records and reports are attached to this report as an exhibit. The area forecast (FA) encompassing the route of flight was issued on January 3 with a valid time group from 0345 to 2200. The synopsis section noted that a high-level trough and an associated cold front were expected to move into central and southern California by 1000. The greater San Joaquin Valley of California was forecasted to experience scattered to broken clouds at 5,000 feet with visibilities of 3 to 5 miles in light rain showers after 0800. The interior California mountains and deserts were expected to see sky conditions of 3,000 to 5,000 feet scattered, 8,000 broken, visibilities 3 to 5 miles in light rain, with isolated thunderstorms and cumulonimbus cloud tops greater than 30,000 feet. Interior mountain areas, including the Tehachapi range, could expect occasional mountain obscurement by clouds, fog, and precipitation. Occasional moderate rime and mixed icing in precipitation were forecast for the area between 7,000 and 20,000 feet. The William J. Fox Airport at Lancaster is the closest official weather observation station to th ## Aircraft - Registration: [N94296](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N94296-2011-04-29), registration cancelled 2011-04-29, S/N 18503303, built 1977 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA A185F - Registry model: [Cessna A185F](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-a185f) (registry code 2072821) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18503303 - Engines: CONTINENTAL IO-520-D 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Michael A. Rhea - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, September 30, 1994 - Departed: PRC, PRESCOTT, AZ - Destination: O56, NOVATO, CA ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 44; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; toxicology performed; flight hours: 1,750 total, 1,300 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Instrument (IMC), Day - Visibility: 0.5 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 100 ft overcast - Observed at: TSP, 2 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19950103000119A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19950103000119A), Jan 3, 1995: Cessna A185F, Tehachapi, CA, Destroyed, 1 fatal. Impacted ground trying to avoid terrain while scud running in a pass. Low clouds snow showers and icing conditions. ## Other investigations on N94296 (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB LAX82DA322](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX82DA322), Aug 28, 1982: Cessna A185F (N94296), Monterey, CA, substantial damage ## Docket (21 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 20, 1995, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=28905. 5.2 MB in all. - Supplement A (item 1, .PDF, 180 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022727&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Supplement%20A-Master.PDF - Supplement B (item 2, .PDF, 270 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022728&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Supplement%20B-Master.PDF - Supplement K (item 3, .PDF, 318 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022729&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Supplement%20K-Master.PDF - Supplement N (item 4, .PDF, 139 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022730&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Supplement%20N-Master.PDF - General Area Accident Map (item 5, .PDF, 66 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022731&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=General%20Area%20Accident%20Map-Master.PDF - General Area Accident Map Continued (item 6, .PDF, 66 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022732&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=General%20Area%20Accident%20Map%20Continued-Master.PDF - Wreckage Diagram (item 7, .PDF, 68 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022733&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Wreckage%20Diagram-Master.PDF - Recorded Radar Data and Flight Path Chart (item 8, .PDF, 351 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022734&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Recorded%20Radar%20Data%20and%20Flight%20Path%20Chart-Master.PDF - Weather Reports and Records (item 9, .PDF, 2.7 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40390718&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Weather%20Reports%20and%20Records-Redacted.PDF - Kern County Sheriff's Report (item 10, .PDF, 294 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40390717&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Kern%20County%20Sheriff%27s%20Report-Redacted.PDF - Cessna Aircraft Report (item 11, .PDF, 48 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40390716&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Cessna%20Aircraft%20Report-Redacted.PDF - Teledyne Continental Report (item 12, .PDF, 57 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40390714&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Teledyne%20Continental%20Report-Redacted.PDF - Statement of Party Representatives to NTSB Investigation (item 13, .PDF, 285 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40390713&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Statement%20of%20Party%20Representatives%20to%20NTSB%20Investigation-Redacted.PDF - Release of Aircraft Wreckage, NTSB Form 6120.15 (item 14, .PDF, 43 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40390712&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Release%20of%20Aircraft%20Wreckage,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.15-Redacted.PDF - Toxicological Report (item 15, .PDF, 60 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022741&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Toxicological%20Report-Master.PDF - Photo No. 1 Overall view of accident site looking uphill from highway. (item 16, .PDF, 32 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022742&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%20No.%201%20%20Overall%20view%20of%20accident%20site%20looking%20uphill%20from%20highway.-Master.PDF - Photo No. 2 Close-up of wreckage. Highway is visible in background. (item 17, .PDF, 40 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022743&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%20No.%202%20%20Close-up%20of%20wreckage.%20%20Highway%20is%20visible%20in%20background.-Master.PDF - Photo No. 3 View of left wing and tail. (item 18, .PDF, 45 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022744&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%20No.%203%20%20View%20of%20left%20wing%20and%20tail.-Master.PDF - Photo No. 4 View of right wing and tail. (item 19, .PDF, 36 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022745&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%20No.%204%20%20View%20of%20right%20wing%20and%20tail.-Master.PDF - Photo No. 5 View of propeller blades. (item 20, .PDF, 37 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022746&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%20No.%205%20%20View%20of%20propeller%20blades.-Master.PDF - Photo No. 6 Butt end of propeller blade No. 1. Note that the pitch change horn has been torn out of butt plate and that hole is ovaled in a direction opposite propeller rotation. (item 21, .PDF, 38 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40022747&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%20No.%206%20%20Butt%20end%20of%20propeller%20blade%20No.%201.%20%20Note%20that%20the%20pitch%20change%20horn%20has%20been%20torn%20out%20of%20butt%20plate%20and%20that%20hole%20is%20ovaled%20in%20a%20direction%20opposite%20propeller%20rotation.-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.