Saturday, February 09, 2019

Visual Flight Rules encounter with Instrument Meteorological Conditions: Cessna 414A Chancellor, N414RS; fatal accident occurred February 03, 2019 in Yorba Linda, Orange County, California


Maja Smith 
Investigator in Charge

Roy Lee Anderson,  Dahlia Marlies Leber Anderson, Stacie Norene Leber, and Donald Paul Elliott

Antonio Pastini

















































Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board 

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident. 

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Long Beach, California
Continental Motors; Mobile, Alabama 
Textron
Hartzell Propeller

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board:


Location: Yorba Linda, California
Accident Number: WPR19FA079
Date & Time: February 3, 2019, 13:45 Local 
Registration: N414RS
Aircraft: Cessna 414
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Defining Event: VFR encounter with IMC 
Injuries: 5 Fatal, 2 Serious
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

Analysis

The commercial pilot departed for a cross-country, personal flight with no flight plan filed. No evidence was found that the pilot received a preflight weather briefing; therefore, it could not be determined if he checked or received any weather information before or during the accident flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the departure airport; however, during the departure climb, the weather transitioned to instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with precipitation, microburst, and rain showers over the accident area. During the takeoff clearance, the air traffic controller cautioned the pilot about deteriorating weather conditions about 4 miles east of the airport. Radar data showed that, about 5 1/2 minutes after takeoff, the airplane had climbed to about 7,800 ft above ground level before it started a rapid descending right turn and subsequently impacted the ground about 9.6 miles east of the departure airport.

Recorded data from the airplane’s Appareo Stratus 2S (portable ADS-B receiver and attitude heading and reference system) revealed that, during the last 15 seconds of the flight, the airplane’s attitude changed erratically with the pitch angle fluctuating between 45° nose-down and 75°nose-up, and the bank angle fluctuating between 170° left and 150° right while descending from 5,500 to 500 ft above ground level, indicative of a loss of airplane control shortly after the airplane entered the clouds. Several witnesses located near the accident site reported seeing the airplane exit the clouds at a high descent rate, followed by airplane parts breaking off. One witness reported that he saw the airplane exit the overcast cloud layer with a nose down pitch of about 60°and remain in that attitude for about 4 to 5 seconds “before initiating a high-speed dive recovery,” at the bottom of which, the airplane began to roll right as the left horizontal stabilizer separated from the airplane, immediately followed by the remaining empennage. He added that the left wing then appeared to shear off near the left engine, followed by the wing igniting. An outdoor home security camera, located about 0.5 mile north-northwest of the accident location, captured the airplane exiting the clouds trailing black smoke and then igniting.

Examination of the debris field, airplane component damage patterns, and the fracture surfaces of separated parts revealed that both wings and the one-piece horizontal stabilizer and elevators were separated from the empennage in flight due to overstress, which resulted from excessive air loads. Although the airplane was equipped with an autopilot, the erratic variations in heading and altitude during the last 15 seconds of the flight indicated that the pilot was likely hand-flying the airplane; therefore, he likely induced the excessive air loads while attempting to regain airplane control.

Conditions conducive to the development of spatial orientation existed around the time of the in-flight breakup, including restricted visibility and the flight entering IMC. The flight track data was consistent with the known effects of spatial disorientation and a resultant loss of airplane control. Therefore, the pilot likely lost airplane control after inadvertently entering IMC due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s design stress limits and subsequent in-flight breakup. Contributing to accident was the pilot’s improper decision to conduct the flight under visual flight rules despite encountering IMC and continuing the flight when the conditions deteriorated.

Toxicology testing on specimens from the pilot detected the presence of delta-9-tetrahydrocanninol (THC) in heart blood, which indicated that the pilot had used marijuana at some point before the flight. Although there is no direct relationship between postmortem blood levels and antemortem effects from THC, it does undergo postmortem redistribution. Therefore, the antemortem THC level was likely lower than detected postmortem level due to postmortem redistribution from use of marijuana days previously, and it is unlikely that the pilot’s use of marijuana contributed to his poor decision-making the day of the accident. The toxicology testing also detected 67 ng/mL of the sedating antihistamine diphenhydramine. Generally, diphenhydramine is expected to cause sedating effects between 25 to 1,120 ng/mL. However, diphenhydramine undergoes postmortem redistribution, and the postmortem heart blood level may increase by about three times. Therefore, the antemortem level of diphenhydramine was likely at or below the lowest level expected to cause significant effects, and thus it is unlikely that the pilot’s use of diphenhydramine contributed to the accident.

Probable Cause and Findings

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control after entering instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) while climbing due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s design stress limits and subsequent in-flight break-up. Contributing to accident was the pilot's improper decision to conduct the flight under visual flight rules and to continue the flight when conditions deteriorated.

Findings

Aircraft Dynamic load - Not attained/maintained
Aircraft (general) - Capability exceeded
Personnel issues Spatial disorientation - Pilot
Personnel issues Aircraft control - Pilot
Personnel issues Decision making/judgment - Pilot
Environmental issues Clouds - Effect on personnel

Factual Information

History of Flight

Initial climb VFR encounter with IMC (Defining event)
Initial climb Loss of control in flight
Uncontrolled descent Part(s) separation from AC
Post-impact Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)

On February 3, 2019, at 1345 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 414 airplane, N414RS, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Yorba Linda, California. The pilot and four people on the ground sustained fatal injuries, and two people on the ground sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

Review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar and audio communications data revealed that, after departing Fullerton Municipal Airport (FUL), Fullerton, California, about 1339, the pilot initiated a climbing left turn to the east. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) existed at the departure airport; however, the weather transitioned to instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with precipitation, microburst, and rain showers over the accident area. During the takeoff clearance, the FUL tower controller cautioned the pilot about deteriorating weather conditions about 4 miles east of FUL. Radar data showed that, about 5 1/2 minutes after takeoff, the airplane was about 7,800 ft above ground level (agl) before it entered a rapid, descending right turn and subsequently impacted the ground. Review of recorded data downloaded from the airplane’s Appareo Stratus 2S unit revealed that, at 1344:55, the airplane’s altitude was 5,500 ft agl with a right bank angle of about 110° and a pitch angle of about -35° nose down. Between 1345:03 and 1345:10, the pitch angle fluctuated between 45° nose down and 75° nose up, the bank angle fluctuated between 170° left and 150° right, and the airplane had descended to 1,000 ft agl. The last recorded data showed the airplane about 40° nose up with a 30° right bank and about 500 ft agl.

Several witnesses near the accident site reported seeing the airplane exit the clouds at a high descent rate, followed by airplane parts breaking off. One witness reported that he saw the airplane exit the overcast cloud layer with a nose down pitch of about 60°and remain in that attitude for about 4 to 5 seconds “before initiating a high-speed dive recovery,” at the bottom of which, the airplane began to roll right as the left horizontal stabilizer separated from the airplane, immediately followed by the remaining empennage. He added that the left wing then appeared to shear off near the left engine, followed by the wing igniting. An outdoor home security camera, located about 0.5 mile north-northwest of the accident location, captured the airplane exiting the clouds trailing black smoke and then igniting.

Pilot Information

Certificate: Commercial 
Age: 75, Male
Airplane Rating(s): Single-engine land; Multi-engine land
Seat Occupied: Left
Other Aircraft Rating(s): Helicopter
Restraint Used:
Instrument Rating(s): Airplane 
Second Pilot Present: No
Instructor Rating(s): None 
Toxicology Performed: Yes
Medical Certification: Class 3 Without waivers/limitations
Last FAA Medical Exam: July 7, 2017
Occupational Pilot: No
Last Flight Review or Equivalent:
Flight Time: (Estimated) 10235 hours (Total, all aircraft)

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Cessna
Registration: N414RS
Model/Series: 414 A 
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Year of Manufacture: 1981 
Amateur Built: No
Airworthiness Certificate: Normal
Serial Number: 414A0821
Landing Gear Type:  Tricycle 
Seats:
Date/Type of Last Inspection: April 3, 2019 Annual
Certified Max Gross Wt.: 6751 lbs
Time Since Last Inspection: 
Engines: 2 Reciprocating
Airframe Total Time: 9610.2 Hrs at time of accident
Engine Manufacturer:
Continental
ELT: 
Engine Model/Series: TSIO-520 SER
Registered Owner: 
Rated Power:
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None

The airplane was approved for day and night instrument flight rules operations and equipped with deice boots, but it was not certified for flight into known icing conditions. The airplane was equipped with S-Tec System 55x autopilot, which was tested on May 1, 2020, and it was deemed operational. 

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: Instrument (IMC)
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KFUL, 96 ft msl 
Distance from Accident Site: 10 Nautical Miles
Observation Time: 21:53 Local 
Direction from Accident Site: 270°
Lowest Cloud Condition: Scattered / 2200 ft AGL 
Visibility: 10 miles
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 4100 ft AGL
Visibility (RVR):
Wind Speed/Gusts: 6 knots /
Turbulence Type Forecast/Actual:  /
Wind Direction: 230° 
Turbulence Severity Forecast/Actual:  /
Altimeter Setting: 29.87 inches Hg 
Temperature/Dew Point: 15°C / 11°C
Precipitation and Obscuration: No Obscuration; No Precipitation
Departure Point: Fullerton, CA (FUL)
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Destination: Minden, NV (MEV) 
Type of Clearance: None
Departure Time: 13:39 Local
Type of Airspace:

The 1400 High Resolution Rapid Refresh model data depicted a lifted condensation level at 627 ft agl, a free convection level at 632 ft agl and a convective condensation level at 1,608 ft agl. The sounding showed a greater than 90% relative humidity from the surface through 8,000 ft mean sea level. The sounding indicated an unstable to conditionally unstable environment from the surface through 6,500 ft agl with a stable layer above 6,500 through 14,000 ft agl. The sounding also showed the possibility of clouds from 1,100 to about 8,600 ft agl.

The 1330 and 1345 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-17 visible imagery showed broken-to-overcast cloud cover above the accident site at the accident time with the cloud cover moving from southwest to northeast. The visible satellite imagery showed several bands of cumuliform clouds moving across the region and over the accident site during the 15-minute period.

At 1245, an AIRMET advisories Tango and Sierra, which were valid for the area including the accident site, warned of moderate turbulence below 12,000 ft and mountain obscuration conditions due to clouds, precipitation, and mist.

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal 
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Passenger Injuries:
Aircraft Fire: Both in-flight and on-ground
Ground Injuries: 4 Fatal, 2 Serious
Aircraft Explosion: In-flight
Total Injuries: 5 Fatal, 2 Serious
Latitude, Longitude: 33.871944,-117.78666

Examination of the accident site revealed that the wreckage debris was scattered throughout a neighborhood and that the wreckage area was about 1,000 ft long and 800 ft wide on a south-to-north orientation. Sections of the tail were found at the far south end of the debris field. The far north area contained the left engine, left propeller, and the fuselage. About 700 ft northeast from the first recovered piece of debris, the right engine and the right propeller impacted an asphalt road and came to rest in a nearby front yard. The left wing was found about 716 ft north of the first recovered piece of debris, about 140 ft southwest of a burned house. Fragments of the outboard right wing (which also contained a fuel tank) were found in the house. The fuselage with the attached right inboard wing, and the left propeller and left engine were found about 310 ft downhill from the house on a heading of 310°.

The left and right outboard wings had separated near the outboard edge of the nacelles. The right outboard wing was almost entirely consumed by fire, and the left outboard wing exhibited moderate fire damage. The left wing forward spar upper cap was deformed down and aft, and the lower cap was deformed downward at the fracture location. The left inboard wing rear spar upper and lower caps were deformed downward at the fracture location. The right wing inboard forward spar upper cap was deformed down and aft, and the forward spar lower cap was deformed downward at the fracture location. The right inboard wing rear spar upper and lower caps were deformed downward at the fracture location. The left- and right-wing spar fractures all had a dull, grainy appearance consistent with overstress separation.

The one-piece horizontal stabilizer and elevators was separated from the empennage; its left half was deformed downward about 80° forward of the rear spar, and its right half was separated and found mostly intact, including the leading edge, upper and lower skins, and portions of the rear spar. The forward spar was fractured, its center section was separated, and the forward attachment bolts had pulled through the spar web. The forward spar attachment bolts remained installed in the empennage bulkhead. The forward spar upper and lower caps in the center section were separated from the web. The center section lower spar cap exhibited a distinct downward curvature from end to end. The forward spar’s separated center section left and right sections of the forward spar, and the mating forward spar fractures were deformed, consistent with the downward failure of the right and left horizontal stabilizer. The left and right elevator counterweights had separated and were not found in the wreckage. A portion of the left elevator remained attached to the horizontal stabilizer and was deformed aft consistent with the damage to the left horizontal stabilizer. A portion of the right elevator and the trim tab remained attached to the horizontal stabilizer. The elevator torque tube bell crank arm rivets were fractured from the actuator rod.

The right side of the fuselage below the horizontal stabilizer shelf was crushed downward. Paint and rubber transfer marks were found on the fuselage skin below the right side of the stabilizer shelf that matched the transfer marks on the lower surface of the left horizontal stabilizer inboard skin. The left side of the fuselage below the horizontal stabilizer shelf was deformed slightly downward. There was no evidence of repeated contact on the elevator stops in the empennage. The vertical stabilizer and rudder were separated from the empennage in multiple pieces, and the lower end remained attached to the aft fuselage. The lower portions of the vertical stabilizer forward and rear spars were deformed aft. The primary flight control cables were traced from the cockpit to their respective flight control surfaces. All cables were broken at different locations consistent with the breaks in the structure. All the cable ends had a splayed, broom-strawed appearance consistent with overload.

The right engine was separated from the wing, and all associated systems except for the fuel manifold valve housing were separated from the engine. The crankcase and crankshaft were fractured in the same area (at the oil transfer collar). All fracture surfaces were consistent with overload. The right magneto was manually rotated, and the impulse coupling made an audible snap. A spark was obtained from the distributor towers during manual rotation of the shaft. The left magneto was fragmented with only the drive shaft and magnet observed. All five of the six remaining sparkplugs exhibited normal combustion deposits and wear. The No. 6 cylinder head was fractured in numerous locations, and its sparkplugs were missing. The engine-driven fuel pump was separated from the engine, and the drive coupling was missing. The pump drive shaft was manually rotated with no binding noted. The throttle body unit and oil pump were disassembled, and no evidence of any anomalies before the in-flight breakup were noted.

The left engine was separated from the wing, and the propeller, left magneto, alternator, vacuum pump, starter motor, and throttle body were separated from the engine. A hole was found in the crankcase over the No. 5 connecting rod area, and it appeared that the case was punctured through from the outside to the inside. Wood debris was observed near the puncture. The crankshaft was fractured at the nose seal, and the fracture surface was consistent with overload. The right magneto was manually rotated, and it produced sparks on all leads. The left magneto was not found at the accident site. All sparkplugs exhibited normal combustion deposits and wear. The engine-driven fuel pump drive coupling was manually rotated, and the pump shaft rotated freely with no binding noted. The throttle body unit and the oil pump were disassembled, and no preaccident anomalies were noted. The oil filter was clean, and no metallic debris was noted. Both the right and left turbochargers were examined, and they exhibited characteristics of normal operation with no evidence of distress before the in-flight breakup.

Examination of the engines and the airframe revealed no evidence of any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Additional Information

Spatial Disorientation

The FAA’s Civil Aeromedical Institute's publication, "Introduction to Aviation Physiology," defines spatial disorientation as a “loss of proper bearings; state of mental confusion as to position, location, or movement relative to the position of the earth.” Factors contributing to spatial disorientation include changes in acceleration, flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), frequent transfer between VMC and IMC, and unperceived changes in aircraft attitude.

The FAA's Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3B) described some hazards associated with flying when the ground or horizon are obscured. The handbook stated, in part, the following:

The vestibular sense (motion sensing by the inner ear) in particular tends to confuse the pilot. Because of inertia, the sensory areas of the inner ear cannot detect slight changes in the attitude of the airplane, nor can they accurately sense attitude changes that occur at a uniform rate over a period of time. On the other hand, false sensations are often generated, leading the pilot to believe the attitude of the airplane has changed when in fact, it has not. These false sensations result in the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation.

Medical and Pathological Information

The FAA's Forensic Sciences Laboratory conducted toxicology tests on specimens from the pilot, which detected sildenafil, sotalol, telmisartan, and amlodipine in heart blood and urine. Acetaminophen was found in urine. Sildenafil, sotalol, telmisartan, amlodipine and acetaminophen are generally not considered impairing.

In addition, 0.88 ng/mL of delta-9-tetrahydrocanninol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of marijuana, and 2.9 ng/mL of its inactive metabolite, carboxy-delta-9-THC (THC-COOH), were detected in heart blood, and 135.7 ng/mL of THC-COOH, and 13.1 ng/mL of the active metabolite of THC, 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC (THC-OH), were found in urine. Sixty-seven ng/mL of the diphenhydramine, which is a sedating antihistamine used to treat allergy symptoms and as a sleep aid, was identified in heart blood and urine. 

THC has mood-altering effects including euphoria, relaxed inhibitions, disorientation, image distortion, and psychosis. Significant performance impairments are usually observed for at least 1 to 2 hours following marijuana use, and residual effects have been reported up to 24 hours. However, THC and its metabolites are fat soluble and undergo postmortem redistribution, which may significantly increase both central and peripheral levels compared with antemortem findings.

Diphenhydramine carries the following Federal Drug Administration warning:

May impair mental and/or physical ability required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks (e.g., driving, operating heavy machinery). Compared to other antihistamines, diphenhydramine causes marked sedation; it is also classed as a [central nervous system] depressant and this is the rationale for its use as a sleep aid. Altered mood and impaired cognitive and psychomotor performance may also be observed.

However, diphenhydramine undergoes postmortem redistribution. and it can move back into pooled blood from storage sites. Postmortem central blood levels may increase by about three times.

===========

Location: Yorba Linda, CA
Accident Number: WPR19FA079
Date & Time: 02/03/2019, 1345 PST
Registration: N414RS
Aircraft: Cessna 414
Injuries: 5 Fatal, 2 Serious
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Personal 

On February 3, 2019, at 1345 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 414, N414RS, experienced an in-flight breakup over Yorba Linda, California, about 11 miles west of the departure airport Fullerton Municipal Airport (FUL), Fullerton, California. The pilot and four individuals on the ground sustained fatal injuries, two individuals on the ground sustained serious injuries and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated by the private pilot as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 cross-country personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed over the accident location, and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed at 1339, with a planned destination of Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV), Minden, Nevada.

Radar and audio communications data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that after departing FUL, the pilot initiated a climbing left turn to the east. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) existed at the departure airport, however, preliminary information indicated that the weather transitioned to instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with precipitation, microburst and rain showers over the accident area. During the take-off clearance, the FUL tower air traffic controller cautioned the pilot regarding deteriorating weather, about 4 miles east of FUL. Radar data showed that 5 1/2 minutes after takeoff, the airplane had climbed to an altitude of about 7,800 ft above ground level before it started a rapid descending right turn and subsequently impacted the ground.

Numerous witnesses who were located near the accident site, saw the airplane exit the clouds at a high rate of descent before parts of the airplane started to break off. One witness reported that he, "observed an aircraft emerge from the overcast layer on a northwesterly heading with a nose down pitch of approximately 60 degrees, pointed directly at my location with no discernable movement. It remained in that attitude for approximately 4 to 5 seconds before initiating a high-speed dive recovery. Approaching the bottom of the recovery the aircraft began to roll to its right. As it did, the left horizontal stabilizer departed the aircraft, immediately followed by the remainder of the empennage. The left wing then appeared to shear off just outside of the number one (left) engine igniting the left wing. After which, the aircraft disappeared behind the hill to the northeast of the observed location, trailing flames behind it. The sound of an explosion and large plume of black smoke immediately followed."

Examination of the accident site revealed that the wreckage debris was scattered throughout a neighborhood area about 1,000 ft long and 800 ft wide on a south-to-north orientation. At the far south parameter of the debris field were tail sections. The far north area contained the left engine, and left propeller and the fuselage. About 700 ft north-east from the first recovered piece of debris, the right engine and the right propeller impacted an asphalt road, and came to rest in a nearby front yard. The left wing was found about 716 ft north of the first recovered piece of debris, about 140 ft south-west of a burned house. Within the house, fragments of the outboard right wing (which also contained the fuel tank) were located. The fuselage with the attached right inboard wing, along with the left propeller and left engine were located about 310 ft downhill from the burned house on a heading of 310°.

The wreckage was recovered and moved to a secure location for future examination. 

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Cessna
Registration: N414RS
Model/Series: 414 A
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None 

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: Instrument Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KFUL, 96 ft msl
Observation Time: 2153 UTC
Distance from Accident Site: 10 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 15°C / 11°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Scattered / 2200 ft agl
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 6 knots / , 230°
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 4100 ft agl
Visibility:  10 Miles
Altimeter Setting: 29.88 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Departure Point: Fullerton, CA (FUL)
Destination: Minden, NV (MEV) 

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed
Passenger Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Fire: In-Flight and On-Ground
Ground Injuries: 4 Fatal, 2 Serious
Aircraft Explosion: In-Flight
Total Injuries: 5 Fatal, 2 Serious
Latitude, Longitude:  33.871944, -117.786667


Pastini was carrying this Chicago police badge when he crashed Sunday. 
(Orange County Sheriff's Department)

RENO, Nevada  — Jordan Aaron was the president of a Carson City sushi restaurant who once ran for justice of the peace in Arizona. Antonio Pastini was the brash ex-Chicago police officer who befriended a brothel mogul and spun yarns of a bare-knuckled youth in the Windy City that read like a cross between “Goodfellas” and “The Outsiders.”

They were one and the same person.

He used two names and two Social Security numbers. He kept different driver’s licenses and bank accounts under the two names, an ex-wife alleged. The ex-wife — one of four — said in court filings that he kept multiple identities to hide money, and she hinted that he had “trouble with the law.”

But he might have lived out his days simply as Tony Pastini, the garrulous retired cop, had his twin-engine Cessna not plummeted 7,800 feet on Feb. 3 into an Orange County, Calif., suburb, killing him and four people who were on the ground.

From the smoldering wreckage, investigators plucked a police badge belonging to Retired Chicago Patrolman No. 15599. That discovery would help unravel the threads of a life story Pastini spent three decades crafting. The 75-year-old, it turned out, had never been a Chicago cop, though it appeared he wished he had been.

“Tony ... loved cops,” said Jeff Partyka, a retired Reno police sergeant who frequented a deli Pastini ran in the 1990s. “They didn’t just gravitate to his restaurant because of the cop thing. He was always friendly and respectful, and he actually did have pretty decent food.”

It could take 18 months — or more — for federal investigators to probe the cause of the fatal crash. They will likely scrutinize the pilot’s medical condition and examine the three-day period preceding the crash, looking for fatigue and other “high-stress events,” said Peter Knudson, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.

Only in rare circumstances, such as when suicide is suspected, will the NTSB dig into a pilot’s backstory, said Barry Schiff, a longtime pilot and aviation safety consultant.

“There are a lot of weird people out there flying airplanes,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it has anything to do with how they fly.”

In a report, the NTSB said that, on the afternoon of Feb. 3, an air traffic controller warned Pastini on takeoff from Fullerton Municipal Airport that he was headed into bad weather.

If he ignored the warning, it was not the first time he had bucked conventions in the air.

On a January morning in 1977, Pastini was flying from Las Vegas to Long Beach when the weather turned icy. Clouds and fog made it difficult to fly by sight alone. Rather than turning back or changing his route, he falsely told air traffic control he was instrument-rated and finished the flight. A judge called his indifference to airspace rules “a potential threat to himself, his passenger and other users of the system” and suspended his license for 120 days.

Three years later, his plane was found behind on inspections, carrying an expired temporary registration and leaking fluid from a brake. He lost his license for 30 days.

Richard Wittry, the attorney for the Federal Aviation Administration who prosecuted Pastini for the earlier incident, said the offense showed “he had a cavalier attitude toward his responsibility as a pilot in command of his private aircraft.”

“He told air traffic a vital fact that wasn’t true,” Wittry, now 84, said in an interview. “He knows he’s not instrument-rated. That’s bad news. That’s an accident bound to happen.”

For years, Pastini’s restaurants were favored by cops. He enjoyed being known as one of them, both for the camaraderie it inspired with Nevada police and the boost it delivered to his businesses, said Marc Picker, his former attorney.

He gave discounts to police officers who brought their families to eat. He held fundraisers for cops who’d been mailed letter bombs, shot by stickup men and killed in training accidents. A wall of his Reno deli was covered in police patches.

After he died and federal investigators identified him as a former Chicago cop, the Chicago Police Department, the police union and an association of retired officers declared that no one named Antonio Pastini was ever a city police officer. That applied to two other names Pastini also had used, they said. The badge he was carrying when he died had been reported missing in 1978.

Pastini’s nephew, Gary Willis, insisted that his uncle “truly was a police officer” and that he had had “perfectly legitimate reasons” to change his name. He would not say what those reasons were, beyond suggesting his uncle wanted to start life anew after leaving police work.

“When law enforcement officers leave that lifestyle, they want to leave it behind,” he said. “They’re done with that life. That may be the reason for the change of names.”

But when Pastini opened a string of delis in Nevada in the early 1990s, he openly touted a law enforcement background. He told the Reno Gazette-Journal he had retired in 1986 at the rank of “detective sergeant” after a 17-year career with the Chicago police.

He regaled reporters with a life story of straddling “both sides of the law, as a criminal and as a cop,” as the Reno paper wrote in 1997. He recalled a boyhood of battling the neighborhood Germans and running with “a greased little group of thugs.”

He told reporters he was a Marine who had been stationed in Japan — a claim the Marines dispute.

As a businessman, Pastini sued a columnist for saying the beef hot dogs he sold were made of pork. He wrote fuming letters to newspapers that dared to publish failed health inspections of his delis.

“He was a talker — told it like it was,” Partyka said. “He didn’t give a rat’s ass what people thought of him.”

In the early 1990s, Pastini met Dennis Hof, a businessman who owned legal brothels in Nevada. This was years before Hof found celebrity on an HBO show about his bordellos and before his campaign for a state Assembly seat, which he won last year posthumously. On occasion, Pastini flew women who worked at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, Hof’s brothel near Carson City, as well as the Bunny Ranch’s maintenance man, said Zack Hames, Hof’s executive assistant.

In a video from Hof’s 72nd birthday in October, he called Pastini “my pilot.”

“The greatest guy, love this guy,” Hof said. “A Chicago cop.”

Another life

Antonio Peter Pastini was born Jordan Albert Isaacson in the mid-1940s. Born in Illinois, he was drawn to California in his early 20s by “the itch for exploration,” said Willis, his nephew.

At 22, he suffered a motorcycle accident so bizarre it was reported by the Signal newspaper in Santa Clarita. He staggered onto the porch of an elderly woman, clutching his chest and “gushing” blood.

“He spurted out a tale that he had been riding his motorcycle with friends when someone threw a beer can at him,” the newspaper reported.

By the 1970s, he was running gas stations, tow trucks and a stereo company. He was also piloting small planes. Richard Yorty, his partner in the stereo company, recalled taking weekday jaunts to Las Vegas.

“We used to take off about noon, fly out to Vegas and come back round 5 or 6,” said Yorty, now 64.

Civil petitions for name changes that Pastini filed in Arizona and California courts offer little explanation for why he changed names. When he legally became Jordan “Ike” Aaron in 1981, he told an Arizona court that he already went by the name in California. The following year, he ran for justice of the peace in Bullhead City using that name, the Arizona Republic reported at the time. When he changed it to Antonio Peter Pastini in 2008, he wrote in a petition that he was already using the name professionally.

During a 2001 divorce, Pastini’s fourth wife alleged that he had driver’s licenses and bank accounts under multiple names.

In a court filing, his ex-wife included a W-2 form from Pastini’s sushi restaurant that showed both Jordan Aaron and Antonio Pastini drawing a wage in 2000 with different Social Security numbers. Jordan Aaron was listed in incorporation records as president, Antonio Pastini as CEO.

Pastini could not get a liquor license in his name because he “had some trouble with the law,” the ex-wife’s attorney said in another filing. A criminal assessment, done when he changed his name in 2008, showed he was arrested but not charged in 1989 for “cheating” in Nevada.

The Los Angeles Times requested records of enforcement actions taken against Antonio Pastini, Jordan Aaron and Jordan Isaacson from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which regulates gambling in the state. The board said it had records for the three names but that they were confidential under Nevada law.

The only person who knows the whole story, it seems, climbed into his Cessna 414A at Fullerton Municipal Airport the afternoon of Feb. 3, bound for Minden-Tahoe Airport in Nevada. Five minutes later, Pastini’s plane burst through the clouds over Yorba Linda, barreling nose-first toward the ground, according to witnesses. Its tail and left wing were shorn off as the pilot tried to pull the plane out of the dive.

A wing that held a fuel tank struck a home where six people had gathered to watch the Super Bowl. Two escaped with serious burns. The other four were killed: Roy Lee Anderson and Dahlia Marlies Leber Anderson, a couple who brought an elderly neighbor his paper every morning and helped with upkeep; and Stacie Norene Leber and Donald Paul Elliott, relatives of the Andersons who were visiting that Sunday afternoon.

Willis, Pastini’s nephew, said the crash was “simply a tragic accident.”

His uncle, he said, loved taking flight “like a biker loves the freedom of the road. It was just him and the sky, man.”

Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.pjstar.com




Years before his plane plunged into an Orange County suburb, killing him and four others on the ground, Antonio Pastini was disciplined twice by federal regulators for flying in dangerous conditions and lying about his credentials, records show.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration told The Times on Friday that Pastini had twice submitted name changes to the agency, changing his name first in 1991 from Jordan Albert Isaacson to Jordan Ike Aaron, then in 2008 to Antonio Peter Pastini.

His license was suspended twice by the FAA when he was named Jordan Isaacson, according to records kept by the Library of Congress. In 1977, records show, he lost his license for 120 days after flying from Las Vegas to Long Beach in cloudy, icy conditions and lying to an air traffic controller about his credentials.

He falsely told the controller he had an “IFR clearance,” an administrative law judge wrote, meaning he had both the instruments and training to fly in low-visibility conditions.

“In short,” wrote the judge, Jerrell R. Davis, “he allowed his motivation to reach Long Beach to dictate that the flight should be made and continued.”

The disregard for airspace rules posed “a potential threat to himself, his passenger and other users of the system,” Davis said.

Three years later, his license was suspended for 30 days after Davis, who again was adjudicating his case, found his plane was behind on inspections, carried only an expired temporary registration and was leaking hydraulic fluid from a brake, records show.

The leaking brake and other technical problems made the plane “unairworthy,” Davis said.

The FAA confirmed to The Times that the pilot in the two incidents was Pastini, adding that the agency was not aware of other disciplinary actions against him.

Sunday afternoon, Pastini took off from Fullerton Municipal Airport in his Cessna 414. About 10 minutes later, his plane broke apart and showered a Yorba Linda neighborhood with burning wreckage. Pastini, 75, was killed, along with four people in a home that was struck and set on fire by the debris.

Investigators have not said what caused the crash. Sources have told The Times that they have no evidence the crash was anything but some type of accident and that there were no signs of foul play.

Investigators recovered credentials and a badge that led the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to identify Pastini as a retired Chicago police officer. His daughter, Julia Ackley, also described Pastini as a former Chicago cop.

Days later, Chicago police said Pastini never worked for them. The revelation casts into doubt two decades of interviews Pastini gave with newspapers in Nevada, where he lived and owned restaurants, describing himself as a veteran of the Chicago force.

He recounted to the Reno Gazette-Journal in 1997 a rollicking adolescence in Chicago, marked by rumbles between his Italian clan and the neighborhood Germans. They were all, in his own words, “bad kids.”

“We were a pretty well-organized, greased little group of thugs,” he said.

Despite his rough-and-tumble youth, he told the newspaper, he joined the Chicago police and served for 17 years before retiring in 1986 at the rank of detective sergeant.

Ackley, Pastini’s daughter, declined to speak to a reporter about her father’s name changes.

Pastini appears to have lived in Illinois, at least for a time. His 1980 discipline from the FAA was mailed to an address in Skokie, a village about 15 miles north of Chicago. When the FAA disciplined him in 1977, his address was in Long Beach, records show.

In a 2008 interview with the Nevada Appeal in Carson City, Pastini said he spent 21 years with the Chicago police. He attributed the success of his first restaurant — a Chicago-style deli in Reno — to his law enforcement background.

“A couple of cops came by and found out I used to be a cop too, and it became a cop hangout,” Pastini said. “It was good food. Great food.”

When the deli opened in 1991, the Reno Gazette-Journal published a story with the headline, “Ex-cop brings piece of Chicago with him.”

“Rather than nab criminals,” it begins, “former Chicago police officer Tony Pastini has turned in his badge and opened a Reno delicatessen.”

Pastini was carrying a Chicago police badge when he crashed Sunday. The owner had reported it lost in 1978, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department said.

Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.latimes.com





Friends and acquaintances of Tony Pastini described him as a generous member of the community, a long-time supporter of local youth programs. He was a friendly face to his neighbors.

To his daughter, Julia Ackley, he was a hero.

In the wake of Pastini's death, however, information about the 75 year-old Gardnerville resident and Carson City restaurateur has surfaced, raising more questions from the Feb. 3 plane crash in Yorba Linda, CA, that killed five people, including Pastini.

Pastini died last Sunday when the twin-engine Cessna Chancellor he was piloting appeared to have broken apart in the air, causing the aircraft to plummet and crash into a residence, killing Pastini and four people inside of the home.

The first question that arose in the days following the deadly crash was the legitimacy of law enforcement credentials recovered from the wreckage.

Pastini had openly and often talked about his law enforcement career as a Chicago police officer. But Los Angeles broadcast affiliates reported Feb. 5 that the credentials found were determined by authorities to be fake. Even the number on the badge recovered from Pastini's body had been reported lost or stolen in 1978.

The Chicago Police Department, where Pastini was said to have retired from, had no record of him ever serving on the force. The credentials he was carrying at the time of the crash appeared to be "fictitiously created," a Chicago Police spokesman told NBC News.

Neither Pastini's known name nor his given name could show that he had served in law enforcement despite those credentials identifying him.

He was born Jordan Isaacson, Ackley told NBC Los Angeles, and he was often referred to by his nickname, "Ike."

He reportedly changed his name in the 1970s for unknown reasons.

In a 1997 interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal, Pastini described himself as having been "on both sides of the law, as criminal and cop." He elaborated to the RGJ reporter at the time that he had once been arrested on suspicion of grand theft at the age of 14.

In Northern Nevada, Pastini was the well-known owner of Kim Lee's Sushi and Teriyaki restaurant in downtown Carson City.

His passion for the food industry led him to train fellow restaurant owners on food and health safety topics as well.

He was well-liked among his colleagues and other community members in Carson City and the Carson Valley.

Outside of the restaurant scene, Pastini was also an experienced pilot, who held multiple Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certifications to fly single and twin-engine aircraft as well as helicopters, according to a report published Thursday by the Herald and News in Klamath Falls, OR, near where the crashed aircraft had been registered.

The Southern Oregon newspaper reported that Pastini's twin-engine Cessna Chancellor had been registered in the community of Chiloquin in Klamath County, OR, for reasons not yet known.

Registration filings list a company titled "KL Management LLC" assuming ownership of the aircraft in 2017, the Herald and News reported.

The address posted on the registration for KL Management turned out to be the location of a quilting shop in Klamath Falls, where a Debbie Pastini has operated a retail business.

A sign was recently placed on the front door of the business, stating the store was closed temporarily because of a family emergency, the Herald and News reported.

Debbie Pastini could not be reached for comment, the paper said, and her relation to Tony Pastini is unclear at this time.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office told the Herald and News that no record of KL Management LLC existed with the state; although filings for it may still be pending.

Records with the Nevada Secretary of State's Office show Pastini's name linked to several registered business entities, including Barritone, Inc., Food Safety Network, Inc., Debbie-Lynn's Creamery, Inc., MTL Management, Inc. and Veranda View LLC.

The name Deborah or Debbie Pastini also appears in the state business license registry under Debbie-Lynn's Creamery, MTL Management, Kim Lee's Restaurants, Inc. and KL Management, LLC.

Of those registered licenses, only KL Management and Veranda View are currently active. The others have been revoked, according to nvsilverflume.gov, the Nevada Secretary of State's business portal.

Pastini was said to have flown often to visit his daughter in Orange County, CA, where his plane had taken off from just minutes before it broke apart and crashed.

He was said to have been a good friend of the late brothel owner-turned-state assembly candidate Dennis Hof, who called Pastini "his pilot" at the legal pimp's 72nd birthday bash last October, shortly after which he was found dead in a Southern Nevada brothel.

Pastini regularly flew Hof and his girls at no charge as long as they paid for the fuel costs, according to reports.

He started flying this past November for Angel Flight West, a volunteer organization that arranges flights to and from health care facilities for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to make the trip.

The investigation into last Sunday's deadly plane crash is ongoing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has moved the wreckage to storage unit in Phoenix, AZ, where investigators will continue to piece together the cause of the crash.

Pastini leaves behind four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Original article can be found here ➤ https://carsonnow.org





As the clean-up efforts continue in a residential neighborhood in the Los Angeles suburb of Yorba Linda, following a deadly airplane crash on Sunday, unanswered questions remain over the pilot and aircraft, both with apparent local ties to Klamath County.

A Cessna 414A Chancellor twin-engine aircraft built in 1981, designated as N414RS by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), took off from the Fullerton Municipal Airport around 1:35 p.m. on Sunday bound for Minden, Nev. The pilot was 75-year old Antonio Pastini, a Nevada resident and experienced pilot who had been visiting his daughter, Julia Ackley, in Orange County.

The aircraft broke up in mid-air 10 minutes after takeoff, spilling fuel and aircraft parts across a neighborhood that resulted in one home being incinerated with four victims inside, as well as the death of the pilot.

In the wake of the accident, several oddities have emerged, as well as local ties for both the pilot and aircraft to Klamath County. Pastini, who reportedly was born Jordan Isaacson, and went by the nickname “Ike,” was a restaurant owner in the Carson City, Nev., area.

Ties to Chicago police questioned

He claimed to have been a Chicago police officer for 21 years before retiring and moving west to enter the restaurant industry, and in the initial press conference following the crash the Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced Pastini was a retired Chicago officer based on a badge and paperwork found in the cockpit of the aircraft.

On Monday, Officer Michelle Tannehill, spokesperson for Chicago Police Department, announced that no records were found indicating Antonio Pastini or Jordan Isaacson was ever affiliated with the department. The badge number Pastini had in his possession had been reported lost in 1978.

While Pastini served in the military, it is unclear at this time if he ever was a police officer, despite representing himself as one repeatedly on social media and through interviews about his restaurants.

An article published by the Nevada Appeal in 2008 stated that Pastini had joined the Chicago PD as a patrolman and served 21 years, and moved to northern Nevada after retirement to begin opening restaurants. Pastini also served as a food safety instructor, according to the Nevada state website. Pastini boasted that his restaurants became “the cop hangout” around Carson City.

Aircraft registered in Chiloquin

An experienced pilot, Pastini held FAA certification ratings for single-engine, multi-engine and rotorcraft aircraft. FAA registration history indicates that the aircraft was purchased by Pastini on Dec. 21, 2017 from Air 20 Corp., which had registered the airplane in Gardnerville, Nev. since 2014, where Pastini resided. However, Pastini, for reasons yet to be verified by the FAA, registered the aircraft in Chiloquin.

Previous registration indicates the aircraft was owned by Carman Law Office PC in Billings, Mont., prior to Air 20 Corp., and had been based in Las Vegas, Nev. from 2006-2009 with Silver State Helicopters LLC.

The Oregon State Airports Manager in Salem, Matthew Maass, indicated that as an uncontrolled airport there is no on-site airport manager for Chiloquin who could verify whether the aircraft had indeed been stored in Klamath County per its 2017 registration.

At the time of the crash new registration of the aircraft was pending, filed on Oct. 31, 2018, and listed as pending per FAA approval as of Jan. 2. Registration filings list a company titled KL Management LLC assuming ownership of the aircraft.

The address posted for KL Management is 5718 S. 6th St. in Klamath Falls, site of the Cagey Quilter, owned and operated by Debbie Pastini since 2014. The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office shows no record of KL Management LLC existing, however proper business filings for it may still be pending with state offices.

Debbie Pastini could not be reached to verify the status of KL Management at the time of publication. A sign at the Cagey Quilter reads, “Closed due to family emergency. We hope to reopen on Feb. 12.”

Oregon registration

It is common for aircraft to be stored out-of-state, or listed as an out-of-state registry, for tax purposes. An aircraft needs only to be stored in Oregon for 30 days before being eligible for FAA registration, thereafter Pastini could have kept his airplane in Nevada while maintaining Oregon registration.

When an aircraft is sold a temporary aircraft registration is issued, good for 120 days; however these often extend beyond that timeline, particular in the wake of a government shutdown.

Ackley was interviewed on Tuesday by television station KABC regarding her father, but declined to respond to questions about Pastini’s claim to be a retired police officer. It also remains unclear why Jordan Isaacson claimed the name Atonio Pastini. She did, however, indicate that Pastini was an experienced pilot, and that she had flown in the aircraft many times with him.

“I would prefer not to comment and let investigators do their job,” Ackley said. “My father is exactly who he said he was.”

NTSB report pending

Chicago Police Department announced that they were not investigating possible fraud charges against Pastini for posing as a law enforcement officer, since he died in the aircraft accident on Sunday.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has yet to issue a public report on Sunday’s accident. In an interview with the Associated Press, NTSB Safety Board Investigator Maja Smith stated that witnesses described the aircraft coming out of a cloud and its tail and other parts breaking off as it rapidly descended.

Several videos taken from the ground of the aircraft in its final moments confirm this, with large bursts of flame and debris visible as the aircraft rapidly descended. Further video evidence of debris on the ground provides insight into what may have caused the Cessna 414A to break apart.

“The videos emerging suggest that one of the engines of the aircraft came apart in flight, created an imbalance and the vibrations were so severe that it ripped itself from the motor mounts and compromised the wing,” said Robert Katz, a veteran commercial pilot and flight instructor for 38 years.

“The videos tell me that the engine separated in-flight from the wing of the airplane, and breached the fuel tank because fuel was igniting in-flight. That is what caused it to incinerate the house on the ground, a 414A carries about 200 gallons of fuel and it would take a lot plus an igniter to burn that house the way it did.”

https://www.heraldandnews.com



























A vigil in memory of the four family members killed on the ground when a plane crashed through a Yorba Linda home Sunday will be held at a nearby elementary school Thursday night.

Roy Lee Anderson, 85, and 68-year-old Dahlia Marlies Leber Anderson were at home getting ready to watch the Super Bowl with Stacie Norene Leber, 48, and Donald Paul Elliott, 58, when the aircraft came down, killing all four and engulfing the home in flames.

The pilot, identified as 75-year-old Antonio Pastini, was also killed in the crash and two other people were injured on the ground.

The vigil for the four family members is scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. at Glenknoll Elementary School, located at 6361 Glenknoll Drive in Yorba Linda.

Relatives released a statement Wednesday.

"Our family bond is tight and each member lost in this tragedy represents more than just one role within our family," the statement read in part. "We lost parents, grandparents, great-parents, spouses, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles. The home lost was a beacon for so many family and friends where many celebrations were held."

The statement described the family as “devastated” and concluded by asking for privacy.

Pastini, the sole occupant of the plane, was originally identified by authorities as a retired Chicago police officer.

Investigators later received a call from Chicago police telling them the credentials appeared to be fake and they had no record of Pastini working for them, The Orange County Register reported.

They also told investigators a badge with the same number had been reported lost in 1978.

Investigators believe Pastini’s Cessna 414A Chancellor began to break up in the sky shortly after taking off from Fullerton airport.

National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration officials are investigating the crash.


Story and video ➤ https://ktla.com

55 comments:

  1. Here is a link to audio of the crash from a home security camera and it sounds like both engines are operating normally up until impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSmttRBQ4x0 I'm leaning to a serious medical event causing the loss of control and the aircraft exceeding Vne and breaking up in-flight. I'm sure this can be easily ruled out through an autopsy. My second guess would be spatial disorientation in IMC causing a LOC because witnesses reported seeing the aircraft exiting the clouds in a steep dive before it broke up and caught fire. It seems unlikely with the pilot's experience being a CFI & advanced ground instructor that this was the case but it has happened before. I think there is more to this pilot's past than we may never know, kind of like the Las Vegas mass shooting suspect. RIP to all the victims involved and I will be waiting for the NTSB's final report.

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  2. I am thinking medical incapacitation also. No IFR flight plan but plane seen exiting cloud. I'm thinking the incapacitation occurred during a trimmed up climb ... Plane continued climbing into the clouds before the upset occurred.

    RIP for all of those lost.
    Praying for a full recovery for those injured.

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  3. Lots of bizarre dots to connect.....2 name changes with the FAA. Bizarre last minute FB posts.....2 licence suspensions.....Pilot for brothel owner that would fly the prostitutes in the plane if they paid for "Fuel", Fake paperwork and lies about being a former Chicago LEO with a stolen badge....The audio did indicate both engines operating.....not sure what VNE is for a 414, but it appears to have been exceeded by a large margin. What confounds me is how intact the fuselage remained. The aircraft appears to have only begun shedding parts during the explosion given the fairly small debris field. An uncontrolled decent from 7800 feet would have have reached VNE much sooner. Very bizarre and sad for those innocent that lost their lives. His 120 day license suspension was for flying IFR without a filing, so the previous poster has a good point.

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  4. Anxiously awaiting autopsy results. I wonder what kind of "meds" will be found in the pilot's system? He was 75 yrs old so it could have been a sudden M.I. causing a loss of control. Vne for a 414A is 237 kts (273 mph) so I'm guessing the plane was topping 300 mph in that dive. From another video of the crash it appears the tail separated first then the right wing. I'm thinking when the wing separated just inboard of the engine nacelle, the fuel tank was breached causing avgas to spray out onto the engine which then ignited and that's the flaming debris and black smoke you see in the video. It is surprising that the fuselage remained largely intact after crashing through the house, loosing its other wing, exiting the back of the structure, crashing through trees and coming to rest in the backyard. There was a tree branch that pierced through the cockpit area so I wonder if the pilot's body was still intact? One other thing,a Cessna 414A holds 206 gal(approx.100 gal. per wing) of avgas so assuming he topped the tanks off prior to departing Fullerton municipal, he wouldn't have consumed much fuel in the short distance from departure to crash site. This would explain the intensity of the fire in the house with close to 100 gal of fuel raining down from the roof. One of the more horrific and well-documented crashes on this site which hopefully will aid the NTSB in finding the cause. RIP to all those that lost their lives that day.

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  5. I do not think it was the cabin that impacted the house, it was the wing with the breached fuel tank feeding an active fire. Lots of questions on this crash, especially surrounding the registration in transit for one-year (N414RS), and the pilot's many violations, and fake Chicago Police credentials. The issues of a sudden health event, MEDS, or spatial disorientation are all good, but how about a suicide too? Seems with the facade being maintained, exposure was around the corner.

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  6. Some kind of electrical system failure. Possibly smoke in the cockpit.

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  7. This was typical all to often VFR INTO IMC and probably was not instrument rated. If you look at the video from the garage, it was raining and very low ceilings that day. If you listen to the audio you hear the plane climbing then he gets S. D. and comes straight down full throttle. I don't think the NTSB will have very much investigating with this excellent audio from at least 2 video cameras.

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  8. If you look up Mr. Pastini's credentials on the FAA pilot database he had commercial, instrument,single & multi-engine land and rotorcraft-helicopter ratings. He also was a CFI & advanced ground instructor. Doubtful this was the cause but spatial disorientation can happen to anyone at anytime. I'm taking instruction to obtain my instrument rating and my CFI warned me not to reach down to pick up a pencil off the floor in IMC as this movement can produce vertigo and possibly lead to LOC. As for the full-throttle, I'm thinking of pilot incapacitation due to a medical issue. During instrument upset recovery training, the 1st thing they teach you do if in a dive is to bring the power back to idle so you don't exceed the Vne speed, level the wings and slowly pull it out of the dive. He never pulled the power back, possible suicide?

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  9. I'm 100% sure this one will be spatial disorientation he got caught in IMC once spatial disorientation started he spiraled exiting the base of the clouds at max speed. He sees the ground coming at him he pulls hard on the controls over stressing the air frame causing wing to break off. The audio recording you can hear the engines RPM rising rapidly in a steep angle dive. There was a reason he had no IFR plan maybe he wasn't current who knows. Wings break off from pulling hard on the controls while exceeding VNE. The heart attack theory that's possible but I don't think the wings would have broken off. He could have awaken when he saw the ground rising pulled hard then. I really think this will just be case of spatial disorientation.

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  10. I wish there was a way to pull up what the weather conditions at the departure airport and surrounding area was at the time of departure. I would be interested in what the ceiling and visibility were. The dashcam videos I've seen on Youtube of the accident dive looks to me like a higher ceiling. If so, you would think he should of had enough altitude to regain control once he exited the clouds. I think the audio recording of the engines NOT throttling back is significant. I think the medical issue theory will be validated or ruled out once the autopsy results are in. I'm sure the legal team of layers are already hard at work on this one.

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  11. There was a Nest Cam video with sound showing the explosion and the large pieces of the plane falling to the ground but it has been removed.

    https://video.nest.com/clip/64a943efd2854b6bbabf56d7b337d5ab.mp4?fbclid=IwAR2B_D7ydt7f8w3zR3N2bUkooVX0kHrCtTPg7FofVYaN0bVUsMWXApb067I

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  12. Interesting that info about this crash and the pilot are starting to disappear from the internet. I just tried to access Mr. Pastini's pilot credentials from the FAA pilot database and it shows NO RECORDS FOUND! I was able to print a copy of his credentials back on 2-5-19 but it's as if he never existed now. Makes you wonder if there is more to this story that they don't want the public to know. If we had "real journalism" in this country someone would break this story but I'm afraid that they're too intent on digging up dirt on Trump that's not there (fake news).

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  13. Wow that audio is amazing, I've heard a lot of twin Cessnas in my days but nothing like that, I would guess spatial disorientation on that very rainy Super Bowl Day, panic, a hard pull up over VNE speed after exiting the bottom of the clouds tail separates causing a very heavy negative G load on both wings, from the vid that was earlier posted you can see the fuel spray (not smoke) ignite after wing breaks apart. At that point the pilot was a passenger on scrap metal falling down....... a bad series of events. No flight is so important that you have to push or exceed the limits legal or illegal, a fully capable plane for IFR into known icing also doesn't make you a good pilot. Stay on the ground watch the Superbowl with some beers and don't ruin someone else's day.

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  14. emerges from the clouds, engines screaming, suddenly you hear the engines load up (when the pilot pulls up hard), then bang, tail, then wings fail...engines suddenly silent, fuselage minus wings and empennage can be seen falling alone..ugly scene, fortunately not caught on tape very often

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  15. I think I read the base was 1500 AGL that day not enough to pull it back to level at 300 mph plus. Really not much he could have done at that point maybe he tried. Even if he through the gear, flaps still not going to slow enough to pull it out. Maybe in an extra 300 he could have done it.

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  16. I wonder if he had a vacuum pump failure leading to LOC in IMC? Someone mentioned that possibly he had a PFD display failure glitch due to ADS-B but the one pic shown of Mr. Pastini in the pilot seat of the accident plane doesn't look to be equipped with one. I don't know if this plane had a backup vacuum system or an electronic attitude indicator. I do agree with the previous posts that in order to pull the wings & tail of the aircraft, the pilot must have made some strong control inputs. I guess under the right conditions, spatial disorientation can happen to the best of us.

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  17. In a spiral dive, just leveling the wings can result in g forces that snap off the wings:

    https://www.flyingmag.com/technique/accidents/revisiting-pc-12-crash

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  18. Witness protection program? That might explain his ambiguity but not his bad piloting skills.

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  19. I was guessing he was WITSEC as well, Chicago Mob. I feel for his family if they did not have a clue and are unraveling their Dads affairs. My heart goes out to the Anderson family as well. No one expects a plane to fall out of the sky.

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  20. One of the news videos shows a dashcam footage where the plane explodes in the air and broke apart.

    It is this video:
    https://abc30.com/dashcam-video-plane-bursts-into-flames-in-midair-before-oc-crash/5120450/

    He was probably killed before the plane crashed.

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    Replies
    1. I would hope he died before the crash... I worked for Tony years ago in Reno

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  21. The audio of the aircraft flying before the crash was chilling, seems like a VFR in IMC event. RIP.

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  22. To the previous poster, it's the old "chicken or the egg" argument. To the non-pilot it appears that the plane exploded then broke up in-flight. But we pilot's know that the plane exceeded the structural design speed and/or G loads of the airframe, broke up causing a breach of the wing fuel tanks. The fuel became atomized which then ignited possibly due to the hot engine or a spark from torn electrical wiring, the flaming debris fell to the ground hitting the house with the fuselage coming to rest in the backyard of the house down the hill. I'm betting that if the pilot didn't have a massive heart attack that started the whole chain of events, he most likely survived until impact with those trees in the backyard. The autopsy should clear up a lot of unanswered questions if it's ever released.

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  23. The NTSB will find the cause/causes of this tragic event, until then all we can do is speculate.

    Based on the video, audio, photo, and pilot information I have reviewed I'd speculate that there are two main possible scenarios (there are always contributing factors):
    1) Spatial disorientation
    2) Medical emergency
    This could be a contributing factor but I don't think it will be the main cause due to the way the aircraft broke up in flight, which I believe was pilot induced.

    In one of the video's it is clear that the 414 was intact and not on fire when first breaking through the cloud base, it did come apart and catch on fire before impacting the ground.
    https://abc7.com/dashcam-video-plane-bursts-into-flames-midair-before-oc-crash/5120422/

    In one of the videos/audio recordings (from a home security camera) there were no abnormal sounds coming from the engines until the pilot got into trouble.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSmttRBQ4x0

    If the pilot was conscious and experiencing disorientation, he probably pulled up hard on the elevator control after breaking through the cloud base when he saw the ground, while in a dive (past VNE), and over-stressed the aircraft. The typical scenario in this event is for the horizontal stabilizers (and some times along with the vertical stabilizer) to fail first, then the wings. The fuel was probably ignited by severed electrical wires shorting and sparking.

    According to reports, the pilot had previously had his licenses suspended twice:
    "The Federal Aviation Administration suspended the license of Antonio Pastini in 1977 and 1980, according to The Times, which cited records kept by the Library of Congress."
    "The first suspension – for 120 days – came after he flew in cloudy, icy conditions from Las Vegas to Long Beach and lied about his credentials. The second was because his plane was not up-to date on inspections, had an expired temporary registration and was leaking brake fluid, according to The Times. The second suspension was for 30 days."


    Even experienced, and high time pilots are not immune to mistakes.

    I had a customer/friend pilot who was instrument rated (but not current) crash his 210 while in IMC on final approach to Salt Lake City, killing all six on board. Airplane came apart in the air due to pilot induced over-stresses.
    https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20001214X38389&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=FA

    Another customer (a retired airline captain with close to 30,000 hrs of flight time) crashed his 310 on departure due engine failure caused by fuel starvation because the fuel selectors were in the wrong position.

    It will be very interesting to read the final NTSB report in a year or two.

    Condolences to all impacted by this tragic event.

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  24. "Another customer (a retired airline captain with close to 30,000 hrs of flight time) crashed his 310 on departure due engine failure caused by fuel starvation because the fuel selectors were in the wrong position."

    I would like to read the report on the 310 departure crash. Would you please share the tail number or the date and location of the accident.

    Thanks!

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  25. I have looked everywhere for the 310 crash report without any luck.
    Can't remember the date, but it was in the mid 1980's.
    The aircraft was based at Chino airport, and that is also where the accident happened.
    The pilots name was Oscar I think he flew for Pan Am, he was severely injured (broken back) but survived, the 310 was a total loss.
    The impact site was just north of the dyno shop (next to hanger 1) in the oleander bushes, south of the old VFW location, and only about 100yards west of the fire station.
    It's been over 30 years since I worked at Chino Airport, my memory may be a little vague, lol.

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  26. In the words of a great American . . . "Trust, but verify."

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  27. Just found on the internet that Mr. Pastini also owns a nice 1963 Beechcraft Debonair N8525M registered in Chiloquin,OR. FlightAware shows that he was very active flying that plane as well as the Cessna 414A. Looks like he got the Beech back in 2015. I think there's much more to Mr. Pastini or whoever he is that we may never know, but I'm thinking witness protection program or some covert ops for starters.

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  28. The registration for the aircraft is pending. This one is full of oddities but my vote is spatial disorientation in IMC. Occam's razor and all that jazz...

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  29. I live in Los Angeles about 10 miles from where this crash happened and remember hearing about it. The weather was very bad as we were getting a winter storm and it doesn't rain often here. We typically get 14 inches of rain for the year and this year we're already at 18 inches so its been a very stormy/wet winter for us. It was a low ceiling with rain sometimes heavy and a big state wide cold front. Do we know if he was IFR rated yet? Basically, did he have any business being up in the air in that weather? I get that he falsely claimed to have IFR clearance but was he IFR certified? As a pilot, I sometimes get lazy about filing flight plans especially if its a quick hop or something but very careful to not intentionally fly in IFR when I'm only VFR rated.

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  30. Yes, he was. Read some of the previous posts as Mr. Pastini had Commercial, Instrument, Rotorcraft, CFI, Ground Instructor but his info has been scrubbed from the FAA website. Weird?

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  31. Sounds very much like someone who doesn't exist.

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  32. Mystery solved. It was Jimmy Hoffa in a government diversion program.

    See for yourself;
    [img]https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/30/17/2AF7C97200000578-0-image-a-76_1438274316074.jpg[/img]

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  33. Regardless of the dubious conspiracy theories which don't hold the test against Occam's razor, it is a reminder for us pilots innocent lives are at stake when we take on flying and hence why it is a supreme privilege to be granted the right to maneuver a multi tons machine at incredible speeds high in the air.

    A few more irresponsible idiots like this dude and soon flying will be off limits to those not commercial or militaries. It is 100% a certainty it was pilot error... well 98% certainty as statistically only 2% of accidents are attributable to some kind of mechanical issue, so we are left with yet another case of highly publicized case of needless deaths on the ground that give GA a black eye in the general public.

    Let's honor those who died needlessly and try to educate this public flying is as safe as can be with human factors the only element that causes deaths and that other forms of transportation are much more dangerous per mile or hour or per capita. By orders of magnitude.

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  34. Re. the above comment: ". . .give GA a black eye in the general public."


    I'm a member of the general public, have only flown commercially (limited times), and, yes, GA definitely has a "black eye" with me.

    Granted, as a person happily living on the ground, I "don't get it" when it comes to flying.....not understanding the thrills, the power it could give a pilot (after all, it looks like a pretty complex thing to have learned), or understanding a feeling of freedom it may give. All I see is people crashing expensive aircraft, often killing innocent people in the air and on the ground in the process. And wherever they seem to be going, there is often a road that could've gotten them there without having to fly. (That's what I mean by saying that I don't get it.)

    Surely my judgment is skewed from reading this blog. As good as it is, maybe I "read too much!?" Maybe it's really not as bad as I think. But to think that you could be watching TV or making dinner in your kitchen and one of these darn, small, noisy, buzzing things crashes into your house or neighborhood, it just makes the non-aviator type person wonder what was so worth it (flying)!?

    As I say, I'm just a regular person, and I'll stick to the 747-type of planes if I need to get someplace without a decent expressway. (Thinking of New Zealand....) I know, even big planes crash, but apparently not with the regularity of the small stuff.

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  35. Boy, I'm on a roll tonight. Sorry to keep going on and on about this. Was just thinking, though, why I prefer larger planes if I have to fly (ref. my last paragraph above).

    It's due to the safety-net that commercial planes have...…….the team of people on the ground doing maintenance and hopefully having lots of required documentation either to instruct them in doing it or causing them to prove that it was completed, the safety net that you have a pilot who's primary job is to fly planes for X number of years (should be quite good at it by now), and the safety net knowing there is more than one pilot flying said commercial plane in case one pilot is disabled.

    Alright, my opinion isn't important, but it kinda feels good to vent a little; also to force myself to back up my loose statements with some small bits of logic! ..smiling..

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  36. To Cece above ...... for someone that doesn't "get" or like GA, you sure spend a lot of time reading and posting on an aviation blog.

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  37. @cece no one asked for your misinformed and unsolicited opinion about GA. You must know that you're being a troll in a blog that is frequented by pilots. Congratulations, you succeeded in offending an aviator on an aviation site.
    On other note, new facts are coming about about the pilot receiving an adverse weather advisory before departing VFR. It's looking like a typical VFR into IMC made worse by a selfish PIC who had a history of warning signs.

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  38. What I don't understand is why in the world IFR rating is not a requirement for obtaining a license. If you are flying in the sky clouds are pretty much a given. Why does certification not mandate that level of training before they let anyone get up in the air ?
    I'm a surgeon by trade. We can make an incision and close it up but in between there are going to be issues like bleeding or other challenges. No doc would be certified just to make a cut with a scalpel and throw a few stitches so why the VFR / IFR thing. LOC in IFR is a recurring theme here and it is killing so many good people in the air and on the ground. The GA community needs to get ahead of this issue or the beancounter technocrat politicians surely will one day. We do not need that, those idiots have already risen to their level of incompetence as it is ...

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  39. Cece, you are a troll indeed. An uninformed know it all exemplifying Dunning-Krueger.

    Kinda the same idiots that loathe at motorcycles splitting lanes as they are stuck in traffic, as they would love to have those motorcyclists add to the traffic driving SUVs instead of being on fast agile and effective motorcycles.

    Aviation is not that expensive considering driving kills millions of people each year worldwide in car crashes and costs $2 per mile if one factors the later costs of deaths and injuries on top of the cost of freeways and roads to be build which is generally in the millions per mile. One insurance company estimates that considering all the externalities of pollution, reduced productivity and congestion etc... driving a car is $5 per mile!!!

    In comparison flying a plane seldom costs more than 50 cents per mile on average if one flies in a 50k C172 and with 3 passengers the economy reaches 30-40 mpg, not to mention flying is 3-5 times faster than driving and on par with commercial flying where the overhead of security lines and delays makes the experience akin to a sardine can.

    CEOs and physicians routinely use small aircrafts that can let them visit several far flung sites every day. It is not a mode of transportation for the plebes indeed but for the 1% that have the skills and the need. And since we don't live in communism, your opinion on the matter is unimportant.

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  40. The latest reports and info appear to confirm spacial disorientation. I had earlier claimed I found it odd the aircraft did not come apart at some earlier time in the 7800 foot spin. It now seems that when he broke thru the overcast, he attempted to recover and over-stressed the airframe which only then began to shed parts and burn.

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  41. "Let's honor those who died needlessly and try to educate this public flying is as safe as can be with human factors the only element that causes deaths and that other forms of transportation are much more dangerous per mile or hour or per capita. By orders of magnitude."

    This is debatable. You are including commercial aviation which is heavily regulated and very safe but its debatable if GA is safer than driving per capita.

    From Philip Greenspun:
    How dangerous is flying? There are 16 fatal accidents per million hours of general aviation. It is fairly safe to assume that when a plane crashes and someone dies, everyone on board dies. By contrast, the death rate for automobile driving is roughly 1.7 deaths per 100 million vehicle-miles. Car crashes don't always kill everyone in the car so let's use this statistic as provided, which is for an individual traveling in a car rather than for the entire car. So considering that the average airplane accomplishes a groundspeed of at least 100 miles per hour, those million hours of flight push the occupants of the plane over more than 100 million miles of terrain. Comparing 16 fatal accidents to the 1.7 rate for driving, we find that flying is no more than 10 times as dangerous per mile of travel. And since most accidents happen on takeoff or landing, a modern fast light airplane traveling a longish distance might be comparable in safety to a car.

    We can also look at safety per hour. This makes sense for recreational pilots who have the alternative of spending a few hours flying around or spending those hours taking a scenic drive. If the average speed of car travel is 50 miles per hour, those 1.7 deaths occur in 2 million hours of driving. This makes general aviation, with 16 deaths per 1 million hours, roughly 20 times as dangerous per hour than driving.

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  42. @Cunn9305

    Regarding: "What I don't understand is why in the world IFR rating is not a requirement for obtaining a license. If you are flying in the sky clouds are pretty much a given. Why does certification not mandate that level of training before they let anyone get up in the air?"

    When getting a private pilot's license, you are required to get a few hours of IFR training but that is spacial recovery training (like you inadvertently went into a cloud) rather than a whole set of new regulations for flying blind. Most pilots are purely recreational and never get near a cloud so the training isn't mandatory but regardless wouldn't have mattered here since this PIC was IFR certified.

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  43. I think the engines stopped running when the plane exploded in mid air. In this video: https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=bQxV_1549311198

    @0:09, I thought that was the moment of impact when you hear the boom and the high pitched engines are silenced but we see the reflected explosion a second after and the crash itself is at 0:16.

    RIP.

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  44. Looks like the case against Pastini has gone cold. Simple case of "spatial disorientation" in IMC ,exceeding Vmc and shedding airframe parts in the pull-up?

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  45. Why are Mr. Pastini's credentials erased from the FAA database as though he never existed? I was able to print them back in Feb. before they were removed. Weird.

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  46. One thing's for sure - he was well practised in the art of deception. Only one person knew this guy's whole story and unfortunately he's not telling - he's in a million little pieces.

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  47. To those who criticized Cece as a troll: whether trolling was his intent or not, he’s quite correct in what he says. I’m a pilot, Airplane Single and Multi Engine Land, Instrument Airplane. I acquired my airman certificate in 1981 and my instrument rating in 1985. I own and fly a Piper Saratoga, model PA32R-301T. So I’m not some fly by commenter with no knowledge of flying. When careless pilots make foolish decisions and kill innocent people on the ground, it absolutely DOES give GA a black eye, as it should. If we, as GA pilots, do not self-police we will inevitably be subject to more and more restrictions.

    Someone had to know this pilot was careless in many ways - witness the certificate actions against him. And yet he continued to fly to his own death and the death of innocents on the ground. How would this NOT give GA a black eye? The truth hurts - it hurts me too.

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  48. Brent:

    Link to Oscars Accident Report 1985:
    https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20001214X36802&AKey=1&RType=Summary&IType=FA

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  49. We finally get the official word from the NTSB. But I think the consensus here analyzed just days after fatal accident was SD LOC and airplane break up. I have been waiting a long time for the final report but I think in the end we found more about the crazy insane life of this cavalier (pilot) who lived a rather mysterious life.

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  50. Would make an interesting movie. What is the number of fatal accident vehicle trips for commercial aircraft vs. automobiles?

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  51. Toxicology report came back he had THC they don't know how long it was before since after death it can change the numbers. 1980 his cert was suspended for telling controllers he was IFR rated got an IFR clearance when he wasn't certified for IFR. I guess back then they checked into that stuff. He had 10k hours lot of hours for non ATP job.

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  52. Photo 3 and Photo 6 are erroneously captioned, (makes me wonder about the engine parts captions) in view in Photo 3 is in fact the remains of the horizontal stab with the starboard elevator attached and part of the tail cone & light. Photo 6 shows the starboard RAM winglet with the tip attachment rib in view.
    It's my worse nightmare, as a pilot and enthusiast I love being beneath the circuit at our local airport but being adjacent to the best outlanding options in case of a departure emergency and directly under the base turn when the opposite is active I have an ever present fear, particularly in bad Wx with several jet operators and schools operating in the aerodrome and the area being infamous for severe storms not to mention the gated community to the West frequented by low flying aircraft viewing properties or showing off the new aircraft, this fear is awakened by incidents like this and the more recent Learjet 35A crash on approach.

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  53. Glad the piece of trash is dead, but a big shame about the other people he murdered.

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