SEA88FA031

NTSB accident investigation · Piper PA-32R-300 · Lakeport, CA · December 15, 1987

Accident · FatalField investigationFinal report
Date
December 15, 1987, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
Place
Lakeport, CA
Injuries
1 fatal
Damage
Destroyed
Phase of flight
Enroute
Aircraft
N400LAPiper PA-32R-300
Weather
Instrument (IMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report May 16, 1989
Report
Approved by Office Director
FAA report
19871215070329A
Case key
40712

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

On this page

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.

In flight encounter with weatherCruise
Weather condition - cloudsFactor
Weather condition - obscurationFactor
Weather condition - snowFactor
Vfr flight into imc - continuedPilot in commandCause
In flight collision with terrain/waterDescent
Terrain condition - mountainous/hillyFactor

Analysis

Although weather conditions were marginally VFR at his departure point, and the pilot had access to a vehicle which could have been used to drive to his dest, he departed novato, CA, enroute to Lakeport, CA, without obtaining a wx briefing nor filing a flt plan. Shortly aft departure and again nearing his dest he received inflt wx info fm ukiah fss and acknowledged the reported bad wx in the vic of his route of flt. A witness near the accd site reported snow, strong winds, low ceilings, and worsening conditions at the time of the accd. The acft collided with a shallow ridge in low mountainous terrain while in an upright, slightly descending right wing down attitude. The elevation of the ground impact site was approximately 2450 feet and the cloud bases were reported at ukiah as approximately 2600 feet MSL near the time of the accd.

Aircraft

Registration
N400LA
Reported as
Piper PA-32R-300
Category
Airplane
Serial number
32R7780507
Airframe hours
2,781
Engine
Lycoming IO-540-K1G5D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Destroyed
Flight
Business · Part 91
Operator
Gilbert D. Evans
Registered owner
Gilbert D Evans
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Last inspection
Annual · May 15, 1987 · 81 hours before
Departed
O56 · Novato, CA
Destination
1O2 · Lakeport, 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
56
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
Seat
Left
Toxicology
Performed
Flight hours
3,000 total · 1,200 in this make and model

Weather

Conditions
Instrument (IMC) · Day

FAA reports on this event · 1

The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.