Piper Aerostar 601 accident near Agua Dulce, CA
On October 20, 2002, a Piper Aerostar 601 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Agua Dulce, CA. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 20, 2002
- Place
- Agua Dulce, CA
- Aircraft
- Piper Aerostar 601 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.502°N, 118.314°W
- NTSB ID
- 20021023X05370
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 20, 2002, about 1300 Pacific daylight time, a Piper Aerostar 601, N700US, collided with terrain after departure from Agua Dulce, California. The airplane was operated by the owner/pilot under 14 CFR Part 91. The private rated pilot, a passenger who held a student certificate, and rear seated passenger were all fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating and destined for Bullhead City, Arizona. According to witnesses, the airplane had landed, possibly to pickup a passenger, parked, and remained on the ground for a short period of time. Subsequently, the airplane was seen to taxi out for departure on runway 04. The pilot held in position, powered up the engines, and started his departure. The airplane was observed using most of the runway, rotate, and assume a higher than normal attitude. Witnesses watched the airplane turn left following the route of a canyon and rising terrain. In the area of the crash, two witnesses reported the airplane was low, nose high, and wallowing just before it descended into a drainage area 0.69 miles from the runway. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot held a private certificate with ratings for airplane single and multiengine land and instruments limited to single engine land. The pilot's last documented third-class flight physical occurred on June 13, 2001. According to a recovered damaged flight logbook, the pilot had accrued about 685 total flight hours. The accident airplane first appeared in
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to attain and maintain a sufficient airspeed, which led to an inadvertent stall mush. The pilot's selection of the wrong runway for departure, considering the uphill gradient, the wind direction, and a takeoff path into rising terrain are also causal. The high denisty altitude and the degraded internal condition of the engines were factors.
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Browse: California · Piper 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.
