- Date
- December 29, 1996, 11:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Banning, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9944UGrumman American AA-5A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961229040739A
- Case key
- 29709
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 intentional low flight in an area of foothills and canyons at an altitude insufficient to maintain clearance from obstacles.
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 told responding police officers that he was flying to the Banning airport to refuel when the engine began to sputter. He further stated that he was in the process of changing fuel tanks and did not see the high tension power lines. The officers reported that the accident site was in a canyon in the foothills north of the city. The power lines struck by the aircraft hang below the elevation of the canyon ridges where the towers are located. The lines are not marked. Several ground witnesses, including an off-duty Banning police sergeant, reported that they observed the aircraft flying low in the canyons near the accident site for at least a 15-minute period before the aircraft collided with power lines. Police officers at the accident site reported that they were concerned because fuel was leaking from both fuel tanks and posed a threat to a nearby stream.
Factual narrative
On December 29, 1996, at 1115 hours Pacific standard time, a Grumman American AA-5A, N9944U, collided with high tension power lines in a canyon area near Banning, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot and was on a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft sustained substantial damaged. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant sustained minor injuries. The flight originated from Redlands, California, on the day of the accident at 1030.
The pilot told responding Banning city police officers that he was flying to the Banning airport to refuel when the engine began to sputter. He further stated that he was in the process of changing fuel tanks and did not see the high tension power lines.
The police officers reported that the accident site was in a canyon in the foothills north of the city. The power lines struck by the aircraft hang below the elevation of the canyon ridges where the towers are located. The lines are not marked. Several ground witnesses, including an off-duty Banning police sergeant, reported that they observed the aircraft flying low in the canyons near the accident site for at least a 15-minute period before the aircraft collided with power lines. The police officers at the accident site reported that they were concerned because fuel was leaking from both fuel tanks and posed a threat to a nearby stream.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9944U
- Reported as
- Grumman American AA-5A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5A-0344
- Airframe hours
- 2,284
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2G, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jonathan K. Roberts
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 1996 · 11 hours before
- Departed
- L12 · Redlands, CA
- Destination
- BNG · Banning, CA
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 860 total · 820 as pilot in command · 49 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 18,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BNG, 5 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.