Piper PA-28-140 N8168N

Summary

On 18 April 2007 at about 14:28 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N8168N was involved in an accident near Tehachapi, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 April 2007 at 14:28

Classification

Accident

Location

Tehachapi, California, United States

Coordinates

35.0589, -118.5144

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N8168N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fresno → Lancaster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA07FA106

2 people died.

The pilot's VFR flight into IMC and his ensuing failure to maintain terrain clearance. Contributing factors were the cloudy weather conditions and the mountainous terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a VFR cross country flight over mountainous terrain, the airplane encountered deteriorating weather conditions. Weather satellite images show clouds in the vicinity of the accident site, with mountain waves just south of it. The surface chart indicated that a cold front was moving through the area. A resident in the vicinity of the accident site reported that on the morning of the accident, the weather was bad and he was unable to see the top of the mountain. Radar data indicated that the airplane was flying a constant altitude and course during its last three minutes of recorded flight. The last radar return was about one nautical mile short of the impact site, which was located on rugged mountainous and heavily forested terrain. There were no witnesses to the accident. No evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction was noted during the post accident inspections.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.