NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX81FVA16
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
PIPER PA-28 · N9390W
Damage
Substantial
Craft type
Airplane
Classification
Accident
Light condition
Dusk
Weather
IMC
Phase of flight
C0
Operator type
Business
Airport
SIERRA SKY PARK
Kind of flying
CY
Weather at impact
Sky
OBSCURATION
Temp
32° F
Aircraft history
Serial number
000028-11086
Total time
1,742 hrs
Pilot
Certificate
Flight instructor (CFI)
Total hours
1,442
Age
28
Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)
KNOB OF DG MADE CONTACT W PLASTIC INSTRMT PANEL.
Investigator remarks
INDUSTRIAL OPERATOR,TEMPERATURE SOUNDINGS.CAGING
Cause factors
- 64/A/40 A PILOT IN COMMAND INITIATED FLIGHT IN ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS Cause — pilot/personnel action
- 82/J/C J WEATHER FOG Joint cause
- 76/J/AF J INSTRUMENTS/EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES DIRECTIONAL GYRO Joint cause
- 88/J/BA J MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS BINDING 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 3578.
Source file
NTSB_1980_3_3578.txt.
Modern CAROL record on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.