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LAX89FA010

1988-10-06 · SALINAS, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SNS

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT FAILED TO FOLLOW PUBLISHED MISSED APPROACH PROCEDURES. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PILOT LACK OF RECENT EXPERIENCE IN TYPE OF OPERATION, INSTRUMENT GO-AROUND PROCEDURES, AND THE CLOUD COVERED MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.

Factual narrative

AFTER RECEIVING A LIMITED WEATHER BRIEFING THAT REPORTED AN OVERCAST SKY AT 1,500 FEET AGL AT HIS DESTINATION, THE PILOT TOOKOFF WITHOUT FILING A FLIGHT PLAN. UPON ARRIVING AT HIS DESTINATION, ABOVE THE WEATHER, THE PILOT REQUESTED AND RECEIVED AN ILS APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT. AFTER PASSING THE INITIAL APPROACH FIX AND DESCENDING TO 2,200 FEET MSL OUTSIDE THE OUTER MARKER, THE PILOT INFORMED THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER THAT HE WAS EXECUTING A MISSED APPROACH. THIS WAS THE LAST COMMUNICATION WITH THE AIRCRAFT. APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE AND THIRTY FIVE SECONDS LATER THE CONTROLLER HEARD AN ELT SIGNAL. THE AIRCRAFT'S WRECKAGE WAS FOUND AT 0700 HOURS PDT ON OCTOBER 7, 1988, BY A GROUND SEARCH PARTY. THE WRECKAGE WAS AT AN ELEVATION OF 2,350 FEET, ON THE SIDE OF A 3,560 FOOT HIGH MOUNTAIN, ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF THE ILS APPROACH COURSE. ANOTHER PILOT WHO WAS AIRBORNE IN THE AREA ABOUT 30 MINUTES AFTER THE ACCIDENT PILOT REPORTED HIS MISSED APPROACH STATED THAT THE CLOUD TOPS WERE AT 2,400 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_LAX89FA010.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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