Piper PA 24-260 accident near Santa Rosa, CA
On January 29, 2016, a Piper PA 24-260 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Santa Rosa, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- January 29, 2016
- Place
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Aircraft
- Piper PA 24-260 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 38.479°N, 122.786°W
- NTSB ID
- 20160128X25329
Official records · WPR16FA059
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Air Traffic Control Accident Packet: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Air Traffic Control Tabular Radar Data: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn January 28, 2016, about 1857 Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-24-260C, N9362P, impacted terrain during an instrument landing system (ILS) approach into Charles M. Schulz Airport – Sonoma County Airport (STS), Santa Rosa, California. The commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by Tango Charlie Aviation LLC as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed for the cross-country flight. The personal flight departed Palm Springs International Airport (PSP), Palm Springs, California, at 1535. According to witnesses, the pilot and his passenger flew from STS to PSP the day before the accident for an overnight stay. A fixed based operator filled the airplane's fuel tanks to capacity as instructed by the pilot, who anticipated an afternoon departure the following day. On the day of the accident, the pilot filed a VFR flight plan and then departed for STS with VFR flight following. He obtained an instrument flight rules clearance from air traffic control (ATC) about 46 nautical miles (nm) from STS and was subsequently cleared to an approach fix on the ILS approach to runway 32 at STS. The airplane's final movements were captured by a combination of ATC audio and an onboard Appareo Stratus 2 unit that recorded GPS and altitude heading reference system data on an internal non-volatile flash memory chip. At 1833, the pilot contacted Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Ce
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during an instrument approach in night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of recent experience in night instrument meteorological conditions.
More accidents in CA
- Douglas MD-83, Feb 1, 2000
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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.
