Piper PA-44-180 accident near Julian, CA

On May 11, 2004, a Piper PA-44-180 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Julian, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

May 11, 2004

Place

Julian, CA

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180 · Airplane

Injuries

2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

33.139°N, 116.584°W

NTSB ID

20040522X00629

NTSB summary

1.1 HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 10, 2004, about 2051, Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-44-180, N304PA, collided with mountainous terrain at Julian, California. The airplane was operated by Pan Am International Flight Academy under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. Both private pilots were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight plan had been filed. The flight originated at Deer Valley, Arizona. The airplane was on an IFR flight from Phoenix Deer Valley Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, to McClellan-Palomar Airport, Carlsbad, California. The airplane took off from Deer Valley at 1932 Pdt and the cleared route of flight was; Gila Bend, V66, Imperial, V458, Julian, then direct to Palomar. N304PA was number four in a train of five company airplanes flying the same route. The time separation between each airplane was about 5 to 10 minutes. The airplane directly ahead of N304PA was N434PA. Review of Air Traffic Control communications and radar data shows that the flight crew of N304PA contacted the San Diego North Radar (SDNR) controller at 2043:48 Pdt, reporting level at 8,000. The SDNR controller instructed the pilot to fly heading 260 after Julian and intercept the (Palomar) localizer. The pilot read back the clearance. At 2045:47, the SDNR controller told the pilot of N434PA, another Piper Seminole ahead of N304PA and flying the same route, to descend to 6,000 feet. The pilot of N434PA acknowledged the clearance. At 2047:55, the SDNR controller transmitted, "Seminole four papa alpha descend and maintain five t

Probable cause

The incorrect use of an abbreviated callsign by the TRACON sector radar controller to issue a descent clearance to N434PA and the sector controllers failure to detect that the clearance had been read back with the full callsign by the pilot of N304PA. Also causal was the pilots failure to question a clearance that descended them below the published Minimum En route Altitude (MEA). Contributing to

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.