North American T-28C accident near Joshua Tree, CA
On February 4, 1999, a North American T-28C (airplane) was involved in an accident near Joshua Tree, CA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- February 4, 1999
- Place
- Joshua Tree, CA
- Aircraft
- North American T-28C · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.151°N, 116.270°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001205X00176
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On February 4, 1999, about 1440 hours Pacific standard time, a North American T-28C aircraft, N128BJ, was destroyed when the aircraft impacted mountainous terrain during cruise flight near Joshua Tree, California. The commercial licensed pilot was fatally injured. VFR conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight that was operated by the owner under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight departed from Van Nuys, California at 1351, and was destined for Thermal, California. The aircraft was operating in a two-aircraft formation. The other aircraft, another T-28, was N628B. The accident file for that aircraft is LAX99FA102. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Southwest Region Quality Assurance Office, on departure from Van Nuys, N128BJ was the flight leader and N628B was the wingman. After departure from Van Nuys there was no further radio communication with any FAA facility. An observer on the ground at Yucca Valley airport, 13 miles northwest of the accident site, reported seeing a flight of two T-28 aircraft at 1430 flying southeast-bound at about 5,000 feet agl toward the accident site. The observer reported losing sight of the aircraft in the ragged cloud bases against the mountains southeast of the airport. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot's logbook was not located after the accident. The pilot's flight hours on this report are based upon those reported to the FAA on his medical certificate application and an estimate of the Safety Board investigator. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION According to National Park Service rangers
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to attempt flight into an area of known adverse weather and the subsequent inadvertent VFR flight into IFR conditions resulting in an in-flight collision with mountainous terrain.
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Browse: California · North American 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.
