NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX80DVG07
Aircraft involved
Historical record (pre-1982)
NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.
Aircraft
CESSNA 401 · N3184K
Damage
Substantial
Craft type
Airplane
Classification
Accident
Light condition
Dawn
Weather
IMC
Phase of flight
Cruise — descent (EF)
Operator type
D
Airport
WALLACE BROS.
Kind of flying
B0
Weather at impact
Sky
OVERCAST
Temp
60° F
Aircraft history
Serial number
0000401-0130
Total time
2,400 hrs
Pilot
Certificate
Commercial
Total hours
2,000
Age
61
Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)
S.TERRAIN PREVENTED RADIO COMM W ATC AT LOW ALT.
Investigator remarks
EMERG LNDG ON SHORT,WET RWY W LINES/POLES AT END
Cause factors
- 64/A/29 A PILOT IN COMMAND INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 64/A/04 A PILOT IN COMMAND CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 80/J/BA J AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES WET RUNWAY Joint cause
- 82/J/A J WEATHER LOW CEILING Joint cause
- 82/J/B J WEATHER RAIN Joint cause
- 88/J/92 J MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS HYDROPLANING ON WET RUNWAY Joint cause
- 88/J/DH J MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS RAN OFF END OF RUNWAY Joint cause
Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.
Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket
3 2903.
Source file
NTSB_1979_3_2903.txt.
Modern CAROL record on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2023 · Accident report
In-Flight Separation of Wings Involving Cessna 401 Pilot Owner
In-flight breakup of a Cessna 401 over Decatur, GA, July 2018. The NTSB determined that fatigue cracking in the lower spar cap propagated to critical length undetected through the inspection program.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
Assessing National Airspace System Impact of the Hybrid Electric Turboprop Commercial Freighter
The Hybrid Electric Turboprop Commercial Freighter (HETCOF) is a large turboprop aircraft using hybrid electric propulsion designed to reduce cost and emissions for narrowbody cargo operations capable…
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