Piper PA-28-236 N627WB

Summary

On 9 January 1996 at about 21:45 local time, a Piper PA-28-236 registered N627WB was involved in an accident near Paradise, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 January 1996 at 21:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Paradise, California, United States

Coordinates

39.7399, -121.6097

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-236

Registration

N627WB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Concord

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX96LA320

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's attempted flight into known adverse weather conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Before departure, the non-instrument rated pilot observed patchy fog in the valley below. The pilot did not receive a weather briefing; however, knowing that his destination was in VFR conditions, he elected to takeoff and observe the weather. Once airborne, the fog layer became solid and he decided to return to the departure airport. He could not relocate the airport due to fog which had moved in. Fearing that he would become trapped on top of the fog layer, he decided to descend through a clearing in the fog layer and make an off-airport landing in a field. During the landing, the nose and right main landing gear collapsed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.