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LAX92FA164 · Cessna 172N

4 Apr 1992 · Claremont, CA, United States

Cessna 172N · Accident: in flight collision with terrain/water while maneuvering

From Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV) to Upland-Cable Airport (CCB)

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Event

NTSB case
LAX92FA164
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Instrument Meteorological Cond

Cessna 172N

Aircraft type
Cessna 172
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N1333E
Operator
Cableair
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV), Victorville, CATo Upland-Cable Airport (CCB), Upland, CA
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight collision with terrain/water
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Became lost/disoriented
  • Pilot in command › Flight into known adverse weather, attempted
  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, poor
  • Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, inadequate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE RECENTLY CERTIFICATED 120 HOUR PRIVATE PILOT RENTED AN AIRCRAFT FOR A LOCAL FLIGHT AND FAILED TO RETURN WITHIN THE ALLOTTED TIME. THE AIRCRAFT WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED THE NEXT MORNING IN THE NEARBY MOUNTAINS. THE PILOT AND HIS PASSENGER HAD FLOWN OUT OF STATE TO A RESORT AREA FOR THE DAY. NO RECORD WAS FOUND THAT THE PILOT OBTAINED EITHER PREFLIGHT OR INFLIGHT WEATHER BRIEFINGS. DURING THE NIGHT RETURN FLIGHT THE PILOT BECAME LOST AND LANDED TWICE AT DIFFERENT AIRPORTS TO GET REORIENTED. THE SECOND LANDING WAS AT A RESTRICTED MILITARY BASE. AFTER DEPARTING THE MILITARY BASE HE ESTABLISHED CONTACT WITH APPROACH CONTROL FOR ASSISTANCE TO HIS DESTINATION AIRPORT WHICH WAS BENEATH AN OVERCAST. HE DECLARED THAT HIS FUEL STATUS WAS CRITICAL AND HE WAS RELUCTANT TO RETURN TO A HIGH DESERT AREA KNOWN TO BE VFR. APPROACH CONTROL PROVIDED VECTORS AS REQUESTED TO THE AREA OF HIS DESTINATION AIRPORT. THE PILOT BECAME DISORIENTED AGAIN AND THE AIRCRAFT DESCENDED INTO CLOUDS. THE APPROACH CONTROLLER ATTEMPTED TO VECTOR THE FLIGHT AWAY FROM HIGH TERRAIN HOWEVER THE PILOT HAD DIFFICULTY FLYING THE HEADINGS PROVIDED BY THE CONTROLLER AND THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.

Probable cause

THE PILOTS IMPROPER PREFLIGHT AND INFLIGHT PLANNING/DECISIONS, HIS CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO IMC CONDITIONS, AND HIS FAILURE TO INITIATE TIMELY REMEDIAL ACTIONS.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX92FA164
Event ID
20001211X14440
Case number
LAX92FA164
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1992-04-05.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 0e23b901129ca3155d01714eb1e22912a445ede961619758a8411338103003d4; retrieved 2026-09-21T15:03:37.046Z.