ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 289108
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| Date: | Monday 18 July 2011 |
| Time: | 07:46 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-12 |
| Owner/operator: | Van Wagner Aerial Media LLC |
| Registration: | N7510H |
| MSN: | 12-371 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1946 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 20589 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320 SERIES |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Joshua Tree, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Lake Havasu City Airport, AZ (KHII) |
| Compton Airport, CA (CPM/KCPM) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot reported that, during the cross-country repositioning flight over mountainous desert terrain, the airplane impacted the terrain, nosed over to the inverted position, and caught fire. He recalled that the engine was generating power at impact, but he could not recall any details of the flight before the impact. Data recovered from a handheld global positioning system (GPS) device indicated that, during the flight, the pilot was flying at altitudes ranging from about 100 to 1,000 feet above ground level (agl). The last position recorded by the GPS device showed the airplane about 1 nautical mile from the accident site at an altitude of about 4,100 feet mean sea level (msl), which was about 100 feet agl. The accident site was at 4,600 feet msl near the top of a ridgeline at the head of a box canyon. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction that would have prevented normal operation. The calculated density altitude at the accident site at the time of the accident was about 7,300 feet. It is likely that the pilot flew the airplane into the box canyon, and, given the high density altitude, the airplane did not have the climb capability to clear the rising terrain.
Probable Cause: The pilot's decision to conduct low altitude flight at a high density altitude and into a box canyon, which resulted in the airplane colliding with rising terrain when its climb capability was exceeded.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB WPR11FA334
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 22 December 1983 | N7510H | Aerial Sign Company | 1 | Fort Lauderdale , FL | |
w/o |
| 9 March 1990 | N7510H | Aerial Sign Company | 3 | Miramar, FL | |
w/o |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Oct-2022 09:53 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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