LAX88FA196 · Beech H-35
Beech H-35 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure en route
From Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Falcon Field (FFZ)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX88FA196
- 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
- 1 · 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 H-35
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft H-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
- N904Q
- Operator
- David B. Cassidy · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, AZTo Falcon Field (FFZ), Mesa, AZ
- 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
- En route · climb to cruise
- 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
- Airframe, component or system failure
- 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
- Door, passenger › Unlocked
- Pilot in command › Aircraft preflight, inadequate
- Pilot in command › Altitude, not maintained
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE PLT HAD JUST COMPLETED A FLIGHT FROM FARMINGTON, N.M., TO PHOENIX, AZ (PHX) WHERE SHE DEPLANED HER PAX. THE PLT DEPT PHX ENROUTE TO MESA, AZ, (FFZ). AFTER T.O. THE LCL CONTROLLER INSTRUCTED THE PLT TO TURN RIGHT TO 300 DEG AND TO TURN ON THE XPNDR; THE PLT COMPLIED. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE LCL CONTROLLER INSTRUCTED THE PLT TO CONTACT THE DEPT CONTROLLER. THE PLT DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE OR COMPLY WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS. GND WITNESSES RPTD THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS FLYING AT A LOW ALTITUDE WHEN IT PITCHED OVER & CRASHED. THE INVESTIGATION DSCLD NO EVIDENCE OF ANY PREIMPACT AIRFRAME/ENGINE MALFUNCTIONS. THE CABIN ENTRANCE DOOR WAS FOUND TO BE OPEN AT IMPACT, BUT THE LATCHING MECHANISM WAS IN THE LOCKED POSITION. THE PLT'S POSTMORTEM EXAM DISCLOSED THAT SHE WAS NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT AT THE TIME & HER RT ARM WAS EXTENDED AT IMPACT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX88FA196
- Event ID
- 20001213X25717
- Case number
- LAX88FA196
- 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 1988-05-30.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 87989207b2b0cd99cf37eaf0f498155d6fb1b273915fcfdd0207f2bc12189b0b; retrieved 2026-09-21T03:42:08.061Z.