NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX89FA181
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
PILOT FAILED TO EXECUTE A 180 DEGREE TURN AND INADVERTENTLY ENTERED INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT DEPARTED SAN LUIS OBISPO AIRPORT ON A PLANNED FLIGHT TO SANTA BARBARA. THE WX WAS VFR AT SBP BUT THERE WAS FOGAROUND THE COASTAL AREA. ABT 9 MINUTES AFTER DEPARTING SBP GROUND WITNESSES HEARD THE AIRPLANE'S ENGINE IN THE VICINITY OF THE CRASH SITE AND THE ENGINE SOUND ABRUPTLY STOPPED. THE PORT SAN LUIS HARBOR PATROL OFFICER THEN HEARD AN ELT TRANSMITTER SIGNAL AND INITIATED A SEARCH. THE WRECKAGE WAS FOUND ABOUT 4 HOURS AFTER THE SEARCH WAS INITIATED. GROUND SCARS AND THE WRECKAGE EXAMINATION DISCLOSED THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE UPWARD SLOPING TERRAIN IN A WINGS & NOSE LEVEL ATTITUDE. THE EXAMINATION FURTHER DISCLOSED NO EVIDENCE OF ANY AIRPLANE COMPONENT MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_LAX89FA181.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
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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.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Poster
Sleep, Sleepiness, and Performance Across Three In-Flight Bunk Rest Opportunities
Introduction: Airline pilots are required to take a rest break in a bunk during long-haul flights in an effort to reduce sleepiness during critical phases of flight.
- Semantic Scholar 2020 · Article (Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy)
Routine opioid outcome monitoring in community pharmacy: Outcomes from an open-label single-arm implementation-effectiveness pilot study.
BACKGROUND In response to rising harms with prescription opioids, recent attention has focused on how to better utilise community pharmacists to monitor outcomes with opioid medicines.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2011 · Journal article (JAAER)
System Safety Study: Pedagogical Aviation Action Research
Action Research (AR) is a scientific methodology whereby researchers participate in a research setting for data collection and problem resolution.
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