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LAX92FA389 · Beech 76

16 Sept 1992 · Mount Shasta, CA, United States

Willamette Aviation Beech 76 · Accident: in flight collision with terrain/water while maneuvering

From 3S2 · Aurora, OR to Stockton Metropolitan Airport (SCK)

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Event

NTSB case
LAX92FA389
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
Visual Meteorological Cond

Beech 76

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 76
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
N5269M
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 3S2 · Aurora, ORTo Stockton Metropolitan Airport (SCK), Stockton, 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 · turn to reverse direction
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
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Altitude, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper

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

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT, WHO HELD A FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATE, AND THE PASSENGER, WHO HELD A PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE, TOOK OFF AND INITIALLY FLEW TOWARD THEIR SOUTHERLY DESTINATION ON AN INSTRUMENT FLIGHT PLAN. THE PASSENGER WAS EMPLOYED BY A TELEVISION STATION WHICH HAD HIRED THE PILOT TO FLY HIM TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FOR A PHOTO ASSIGNMENT. IT WAS A CLEAR DAY, AND WHILE EN ROUTE THE PILOT CANCELLED HIS FLIGHT PLAN. THEREAFTER, ALL FAA SERVICES WERE TERMINATED. THE PILOT HAD INDICATED THAT DURING THE FLIGHT HE PLANNED TO FLY VIA VICTOR AIRWAY 23. THE AIRPLANE PROCEEDED ABOUT 23 NM EAST OF COURSE AND APPROACHED MOUNT SHASTA, ELEVATION 14,162 FEET MSL. WITNESSES, WHO WERE LOCATED AT ABOUT THE 6,700 FOOT LEVEL ON THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE FLYING WITHIN ABOUT 40 FEET OF THE TOPS OF TREES AND TOWARD RISING TERRAIN. THE AIRPLANE APPEARED TO REVERSE ITS COURSE AND THEN DESCEND INTO THE 7600 TO 7800 FT MSL TERRAIN WHEREUPON A FIRE IMMEDIATELY STARTED. NO MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS WERE FOUND WITH THE AIRPLANE.

Probable cause

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER EN ROUTE DECISION TO ALTER HIS COURSE AND TO PROCEED OVER A MOUNTAINOUS AREA WITH INADEQUATE ALTITUDE TO CLEAR THE RISING TERRAIN.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX92FA389
Event ID
20001211X15707
Case number
LAX92FA389
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 1992-09-17.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 3f3cdabbf1cc37bf6e915d07eacd3080534464403733c9950b0e2dc2f89b29d3; retrieved 2026-09-21T00:56:13.978Z.