Grumman AA-5A accident near San Luis Obispo, CA
On December 31, 1994, a Grumman AA-5A (airplane) was involved in an accident near San Luis Obispo, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 31, 1994
- Place
- San Luis Obispo, CA
- Aircraft
- Grumman AA-5A · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.251°N, 120.621°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001206X02738
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On December 30, 1994, about 2130 Pacific standard time, a Grumman AA-5A, N26443, collided with mountainous terrain approximately 18 miles northeast of the San Luis Obispo, California, airport. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot and was on a personal cross-country flight to Tulare, California. Instrument meteorological conditions existed at the accident site and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was demolished in the impact and postcrash fire sequence. The private pilot and his one passenger sustained fatal injuries. Based on airport witness observations, the flight originated at the San Luis Obispo airport on the evening of the accident between 2045 and 2100. The accident site is on the south face of Black Mountain at an elevation of 3,000 feet msl. Black Mountain is part of the coastal mountain range which separates San Luis Obispo from the greater San Joaquin Valley, where the pilot's destination is located. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar site is located at the summit, which has an elevation of 3,600 feet msl. Ceilings in the area were measured between 2,600 and 2,300 feet. Investigation revealed that the pilot departed Tulare about 1000 on the morning of the accident and flew to San Luis Obispo. The owner of a fixed-base operation (FBO) at Tulare, Valley Air Crafts, reported that he spoke to the pilot just before his departure. The FBO owner stated that as the pilot left Tulare, the visibility was between 1-2 miles in fog. FAA records of preflight weather briefings disclosed that a person who identified himself as the p
Probable cause
the pilot's intentional flight into an area of known marginal weather conditions during a night cross-country flight and the flight's subsequent inadvertent entry into instrument meteorological conditions at an altitude insufficient to remain clear of the surrounding terrain.
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Browse: California · Grumman aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
