Cessna 172N N6141D

Summary

On 22 June 1997 at about 01:30 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N6141D, operated by Fountaine Aviation, was involved in an accident near Cuyama, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

22 June 1997 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Cuyama, California, United States

Coordinates

34.9801, -119.7993

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N6141D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Fountaine Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Barbara → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97FA286

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had rented the airplane for a local area sightseeing flight over nearby mountainous terrain, and he departed with full fuel tanks at 1805. The operator and family members believed that the pilot intended to return by 1930. No communications with or witness sightings of the airplane were reported following departure. The pilot initially headed in a northwesterly direction toward the Santa Ynez area. About 1 2/3 months later, the wreckage was discovered about 21 miles north of Santa Barbara. A postimpact ground fire destroyed most of the wreckage, and insufficient remains existed for performance of an autopsy or toxicology tests. An examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical failures. Based upon ground scar evidence and the partial reconstruction of the wreckage, the airplane collided with the mountainside while descending (or maneuvering) nearly perpendicular to the face of the 40 degree upsloping mountainside at 5,400 feet msl. No unusual weather phenomena were observed or reported in the area of the accident site.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.