ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 37219
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Date: | Wednesday 17 August 1983 |
Time: | 12:27 |
Type: | Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain |
Owner/operator: | Las Vegas Airlines |
Registration: | N88LV |
MSN: | 31-7752118 |
Total airframe hrs: | 4325 hours |
Engine model: | LYCOMING L/TIO-540-J |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | Peach Springs, Arizona [Near 35'98 -
United States of America
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
Departure airport: | North Las Vegas Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada (VGT/KVGT) |
Destination airport: | Grand Canyon, Arizona (GCN/KGCN) |
Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:A combination of low clouds and poor visibility were the major factors in the tragic mishap that claimed Las Vegas Airlines (LVA) Flight 88. The scheduled air tour, along with a flight of four other Las Vegas Airlines aircraft originated from the North Las Vegas Airport (KVGT) on the morning of August 17, 1983. The final destination for the flight was Grand Canyon National Park Airport (KGCN).
In command of Flight 88 was Captain Wallace S. Gustafson Jr. Known by fellow pilots as "Gus", Captain Gustafson was a retired fighter pilot with the United States Air Force and had well over 8,000 total flight hours. He was hired by Las Vegas Airlines on April 16, 1980. A family of nine vacationing tourists from Italy made up Flight 88's passenger manifest.
The flight departed on a cloudy/rainy day at 11:42 AM and proceeded eastbound over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to the western boundary of the Grand Canyon. At this point, most of the Las Vegas Airlines aircraft in the flight began climbing over the Shivwits Plateau to avoid the deteriorating weather conditions. For reasons unclear, Captain Gustafson decided to fly through the canyon and below the overcast. During this time he was relaying his position by radio using radials off of the Peach Springs VORTAC navigation station.
Flying low through the canyon, the flight encountered what other pilots in the area would later describe as a "wall of clouds" that went to ground level. With visibility decreasing, Captain Gustafson may have become confused with his precise location within the canyon. It was later speculated by other tour pilots and the NTSB that Captain Gustafson may have thought he was in the area known as "Twin Peaks" which was six miles to the north and clear of rising terrain. At around 12:27 PM, Captain Gustafson made a final radio call to the other company aircraft; "It's getting too bad in here, I'm getting out".
Attempts were made to contact the flight by another company aircraft were unsuccessful. The four remaining Las Vegas Airlines aircraft completed their sightseeing flights by proceeding over the Shivwits Plateau just north of Mt. Dellenbaugh. When it was clear that Flight 88 had not made it to Grand Canyon Airport nor had returned to North Las Vegas Airport, a missing aircraft alert was issued to try and locate Flight 88. With bad weather hampering the search, it was not until noon the following day when two company pilots flying a search mission found the scattered wreckage of Flight 88 on the southwest slope of a remote mesa within the Grand Canyon. There were no survivors.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that it was too much of a risk to conduct an on-site investigation of this accident. The official accident investigation was made possible through a series of photographs taken by investigators as they hovered by helicopter near the crash site. A majority of the scattered human remains were removed by Coconino County Sheriff Deputies and volunteers from the Hualapai Tribe who rappelled down the cliff face.
Accident investigation:
|
| |
Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Report number: | DCA83AA034 |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Duration: | |
Download report: | Final report |
|
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: DCA83AA034 at
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001214X44099&key=1 2. FAA:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=88LV 3.
https://www.lostflights.com/Grand-Canyon-Aviation/81783-Las-Vegas-Airlines-Piper/5485574_hwBBS6 Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
24-Oct-2008 10:30 |
ASN archive |
Added |
14-Jun-2015 18:29 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
21-Dec-2016 19:23 |
ASN Update Bot |
Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
12-Feb-2020 16:43 |
harro |
Updated [Location, Source, Accident report, ] |
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