N4871L

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn June 4, 2017, about 1529 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180 airplane, N4871L, collided with terrain in a residential neighborhood in Santa Rosa Valley, California. The commercial pilot and passenger, who was the pilot's son, were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was privately owned and was being operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which departed Camarillo Airport (CMA), Camarillo, California, at 1513.

Air traffic control and radar information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated that the pilot contacted the CMA ground controller at 1506 and requested a right crosswind departure from runway 26. About 3 minutes after takeoff, the pilot was given a traffic advisory for an aircraft 1 mile ahead at the Saticoy Bridge. Radar data indicated that by this time the airplane was at a transponder mode C reported altitude of 1,600 ft and flying northbound. The pilot responded that he had located the traffic, and 1 minute later, the controller issued the pilot a frequency change to the Point Mugu Radar Air Traffic Control Facility for flight following. The pilot acknowledged, but did not contact Point Mugu; there was no further communication recorded with the accident airplane.

About 1525, the pilot's daughter was on her horse in an outdoor horse arena 14 miles east of CMA. She was accompanied by two riding instructors; one who was at her side, and another in an adjacent wash rack area next to a barn. Both instructors reported seeing an airplane approach from the northwest and fly over the arena in a southeast direction. The airplane then began a 180° left turn, tracking back past the arena to the northwest. They later told investigators that the father had flown the airplane over the arena before, and although they could not definitively judge the airplane's altitude, it was about the same as on those previous occasions.

The airplane continued northwest for about 1/3 mile, and as it overflew a house on top of an adjacent hill, it began to turn left. The riding instructors reported that the engine started to "sputter," then stopped producing sound. The airplane continued the turn until it was traveling southeast again. The instructors heard the engine sound increase as the airplane flew directly toward the arena at a much lower altitude than before. The airplane continued to descend with the engine operating and flew directly overhead and over the arena about 100 ft above the ground, startling the horses.

Electrical power transmission lines were just east of the arena. Before reaching the lines, the airplane began a steep right turn, such that the instructors could see the complete wing profile. The turn progressed, with the nose pointing up, then dropping back down, as the airplane passed out of view behind trees. They then heard two loud thuds and immediately ran in the direction of the noise. They found the airplane in the center of another sand-covered horse arena on an adjacent property about 600 ft south of their arena. (See Figure 1)

The pilot's daughter stated that she was facing west when she first observed the airplane. The airplane was flying toward her, and although she did not see who was onboard, she stated that she knew it was her father. She was aware that he and her brother were flying that day and was under the impression that they would be flying to the Channel Islands. The airplane circled overhead two or three times, and everything sounded and looked normal. However, on the final pass, as the airplane flew toward her, the engine sound stopped, and the airplane began to rapidly descend. It was much lower than before, and as it approached, she was concerned that it might scare the horse and that she might be thrown off. She stated that, just as the airplane flew overhead, the engine sound started again, and the airplane turned right behind the trees and out of her view. She then heard the sound of a crash.

The daughter reported that she had flown with her father about 15 to 20 times, and about three weeks before the accident, he flew over the same area but at a higher altitude. He had told her he knew about the power lines and always mentioned that they were "a pilot's worst enemy."

Another witness, located on the accident property, stated that the left turn following the initial overflight was very aggressive, and that the engine was operating at that time. As the airplane came in for the second pass toward the arena, he was shocked at how low it was flying. After overflying the arena, and just above the tree line, the airplane pulled up before reaching the power lines, and immediately rolled aggressively to the right.

At 1532, the pilot of a Cessna 172 reported on the CMA tower frequency that he had just observed a small airplane crash while the airplane was performing low-level maneuvers in the Moorpark area.

The pilots onboard the Cessna 172 subsequently provided statements indicating that they were at an altitude of 2,500 ft mean sea level (msl) about 14 miles east-northeast of CMA when they observed an airplane below them, and just south of their position. It was flying back and forth, very low, and performing banking maneuvers that one of the pilots described as "crazy eights." One pilot stated that she was familiar with the undulating terrain and was concerned that the airplane was going to crash into the hillside. The other pilot stated that, every time he looked over, the airplane was flying in a different direction, and that it was so low that he could see its shadow on the ground. They continued to watch as the airplane, while traveling at high speed, made a final "hard right bank," circled back around, and impacted the ground.

Figure 1 - Accident Area PERSONNEL INFORMATIONPilot

The pilot, who was seated in the front right seat, held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and sea, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane.

The pilot's most recent third-class FAA medical certificate was issued on January 28, 2016, with a requirement to have available glasses for near vision. He had reported no medical conditions and no medications on his application.

No flight logbooks were recovered for the pilot. At the time of application for his medical certificate, he reported 1,989.9 total hours of flight experience, including 43.2 hours in the previous 6 months. One of the airplane's co-owners stated that, although the pilot did not own a share in the airplane, he started flying it about 3 years before the accident and typically flew it one or two times per week. He estimated that the pilot had about 500 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane make and model.

Passenger

The pilot's 15-year-old son was seated in the front left seat of the airplane. He did not hold a pilot certificate, although according to family members, he often sat in the left seat when flying with his father.

His mother, who was divorced from the pilot, stated that she did not know they would be flying that day. She was aware that her son had previously flown in the airplane while seated in the front left seat. She further stated that she was never happy with the idea of her children flying with their father, and had been told that he had flown low over the accident site before, but after discussing the situation with legal counsel, concluded that there was nothing she could do to stop him from taking them. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe airplane was manufactured in 1967 and was equipped with a Lycoming O-360-A4A engine, which was last overhauled in 1992. The most recent maintenance event was for an annual inspection, which was completed on February 1, 2017. At that time, the airframe had accrued 5,939.9 total flight hours, and the engine 1,796.4 hours since major overhaul.

The airplane was equipped with dual cockpit flight controls. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONAt 1555, the automated surface weather observation facility at CMA, elevation 65 ft mean sea level, reported wind from 250° at 5 knots, 10 miles visibility, temperature 70°F, dew point 61°F, and an altimeter setting of 29.86 inches of mercury. Using these values, the density altitude at the accident site was about 1,700 ft. AIRPORT INFORMATIONThe airplane was manufactured in 1967 and was equipped with a Lycoming O-360-A4A engine, which was last overhauled in 1992. The most recent maintenance event was for an annual inspection, which was completed on February 1, 2017. At that time, the airframe had accrued 5,939.9 total flight hours, and the engine 1,796.4 hours since major overhaul.

The airplane was equipped with dual cockpit flight controls. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONThe airplane came to rest in the middle of a horse arena, which was 175 ft long and 85 ft wide, and oriented north-south. The arena was at an elevation of 590 ft msl and situated within a geographic bowl-like depression, flanked about 1/3 mile to the northwest by a 790-ft-tall hill, and by 1,030-ft-tall hills at a similar distance to the south and east. About 1,000 ft to the west of the arena, the terrain rose to about 770 ft, then gradually fell away through the Santa Rosa Valley before reaching CMA, 13 miles to the west. The Channel Islands were about 28 miles beyond CMA.

The area surrounding the accident site was interspersed with hills, fields, and densely-populated housing developments. Open agricultural fields were located at an elevation of 625 ft about 1/2-mile northeast. Fields were also located at an elevation of 310 ft about 1 1/2 miles southwest.

The arena was bordered to the east by three separate sets of power transmission lines oriented north-south. The lines were positioned about 60, 85, and 180 ft east of the arena edge. The closest two sets of lines were about 65 ft above ground lev...