On August 17, 1983, Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88, a Piper PA-31-350, N88LV, was being operated as a scheduled Grand Canyon sightseeing flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Tusayan, Arizona. Weather conditions precluded the pilot of Las Vegas 88 from flying over the Shivwits Plateau under visual conditions as normally done, so he flew into the west end of the Grand Canyon at 5,000 feet. Attempts to contact Las Vegas 88 were fruitless. The wreckage was found on August 18, 1983, by company pilots on the west wall of a mesa inside the Canyon. The airplane was destroyed by impact and by postimpact fire. The pilot and all nine passengers were killed. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilot's failure to maintain adequate visual flight references to positively identify his position while flying below the rim of the Grand Canyon which resulted in his selection of an inappropriate flightpath and consequent collision with the terrain during an attempt to climb the airplane in instrument meteorological conditions to a safe altitude above the rim of the canyon.
Aircraft Accident Report - Las Vegas Airlines Flight 88, Piper PA-31-350, Grand Canyon, Arizona, August 17, 1983
1984
24 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch