A pilot with only two hours' experience in actual instrument-flight conditions was at the controls of a plane that crashed in bad weather three years ago near Corona killing both occupants, federal investigators say.
Fifty-year-old pilot William Randy Morgan of Trabuco Canyon and 46-year-old passenger Karen Lynne Oberdiear of San Juan Capistrano died in the wreckage of the Piper Cherokee Six in a marsh behind Prado Dam on March 20, 2009.
They had just taken off from Corona Municipal Airport with a planned destination of Lake Havasu City. It took searchers 10 hours to find the crash site.
At the time of the crash, a 400-foot-high overcast blanketed the airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s interim report on the accident.
“After losing sight of the airplane due to the low fog, (a witness) heard what sounded like the airplane impacting trees,” according to the report. “Another witness at the airport … thought the airplane made two 360-degree turns, which were followed by a dull thud.
“Both witnesses were unable to see the airplane due to the low visibility at the airport.”
The pilot’s logbook showed that he had about 426 hours of flight experience, nearly all of it in that model plane, the investigators wrote. The pilot was rated for instrument flight, with two hours of instrument flight under actual instrument conditions and 47 hours of simulated instrument flight, they wrote.
“No flight time was recorded within the last 90 days prior to the accident, and there is no record of the pilot obtaining an instrument proficiency check within the 12 months prior to the accident,” according to the report.
The interim report makes no attempt to establish the cause of the crash. The final report is scheduled to be released next month.
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http://www.ntsb.gov
NTSB Identification: WPR09FA158
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, March 20, 2009 in Corona, CA
Aircraft: PIPER PA-32-300, registration: N55962
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On March 20, 2009, about 0840 Pacific daylight time (PDT), a Piper Cherokee Six, PA-32-300, N55962, impacted terrain during departure from Corona Municipal Airport (AJO), Corona, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot and passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces. The cross-country personal flight departed Corona, California, at 0838, with a planned destination of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed.
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