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LAX90LA182

1990-05-17 · GOLETA, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SBA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE DARK NIGHT AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF NIGHT FLYING EXPERIENCE.

Factual narrative

THE AIRCRAFT WAS LOST FROM VISUAL CONTACT BY THE TOWER WHILE PERFORMING NIGHT TOUCH-AND-GO LANDINGS, AND PRESUMED TO HAVE CRASHED INTO THE OCEAN. AMOUNG THE FEW ITEMS RECOVERED WERE A PAIR OF WHEEL CHOCKS WITH THE AIRCRAFT'S NUMBER. DEPARTURE FROM RWY 15R IS OUT OVER THE OCEAN. THE PILOT'S LAST LOGGED NIGHT TIME WAS 9/89 AND CONSISTED OF 0.2 HRS. THE PILOT'S TOTAL LOGGED NIGHT TIME WAS 6.7 HRS, 6 OF WHICH WERE DUAL. INJURIES PRESUMED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_LAX90LA182.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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