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LAX92FA220 · Beech S-35

27 May 1992 · Avalon, CA, United States

Marin Pilots Association Beech S-35 · Accident: in flight collision with terrain/water during initial climb

From AXV · SANTA CATALINA, CA to Long Beach International Airport (LGB)

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Event

NTSB case
LAX92FA220
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
2 · 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

Beech S-35

Aircraft type
Beechcraft S-35
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
N5874S
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From AXV · SANTA CATALINA, CATo Long Beach International Airport (LGB), Long Beach, 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
Initial climb
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
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Visual flight rules (VFR) flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, improper
  • Pilot in command › Proper altitude, not selected
  • Pilot in command › VFR flight into imc, intentional
  • Pilot in command › Wrong runway, selected

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

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT OBTAINED A PREFLIGHT WEATHER BRIEFING AND FILED AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN FOR THE 30 MINUTE FLIGHT FROM CATALINA ISLAND TO THE MAINLAND AT LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. ACCORDING TO THE AIRPORT MANAGER AT THE PRIVATE UNCONTROLLED AIRPORT, THE PILOT STATED TO HIM THAT HE HAD AN IFR CLEARANCE ON FILE, BUT HE MIGHT GO VFR ON RUNWAY 4. THE PILOT THEN TAXIED OUT TO RUNWAY 22 AND CALLED ON THE UNICOM READY FOR DEPARTURE. THE MANAGER GAVE THE PILOT THE ALTIMETER SETTING AND WIND THEN THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED. THE MANAGER STATED THAT THE WEATHER AT THE TIME WAS SKY OBSCURED WITH AN INDEFINITE CEILING. HE SAID THE VISIBILITY FOR RUNWAY 22 WAS .25 OF A MILE WHILE THE VISIBILITY FOR RUNWAY 4 WAS 1 MILE. THE PILOT NEVER OPENED HIS FLIGHT PLAN. THE WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED ABOUT AN HOUR LATER BY A MOTORIST ABOUT ONE HALF MILE NORTHWEST OF THE AIRPORT AND ABOUT 100 FEET BELOW THE RUNWAY ELEVATION. THE WRECKAGE PATH WAS MEASURED TO BE ABOUT 358 DEGREES MAGNETIC. GROUND SCAR MEASUREMENTS INDICATED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS IN A RIGHT 10 DEGREE BANKED TURN IN A SLIGHT NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE AT IMPACT.

Probable cause

1) IMPROPER PREFLIGHT PLANNING, 2) THE PILOTS SELECTION OF THE WRONG RUNWAY FOR DEPARTURE WHICH PUT THE AIRCRAFT IMMEDIATELY IN AN AREA OF RESTRICTED VISIBILITY AND FOG AFTER LIFTOFF, 3) THE PILOTS INTENTIONAL FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT CONDITIONS, AND 4) HIS FAILURE TO SELECT A PROPER INITIAL ALTITUDE TO CLEAR THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX92FA220
Event ID
20001211X14673
Case number
LAX92FA220
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: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 1b607344f70949580f063c44db1a5aba0aebaf9dbafc4fca673dbf47b2ad47c3; retrieved 2026-09-21T01:10:38.233Z.