Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain proper altitude and glidepath while executing a night instrument approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's fatigue.
NTSB analysis
The pilot was executing an over-water instrument approach to Runway 14 on a dark night in an area of moderate to heavy precipitation and light to moderate turbulence. Based upon the airplane's descent profile, recorded radar data, local ocean currents, and the ultimate distribution of debris along the beach, the airplane impacted the ocean's surface about one-half mile offshore and about seven statute miles northwest of the Arcata Airport. In the forty-two hours immediately preceding the accident, the pilot had flown about twenty hours and forty-five minutes, and had crossed four time zones. There was no record of the pilot acquiring a weather briefing relating to his destination on the day of the accident.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR09FA146 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Mar 2, 2009
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Arcata, California
- Nearest airport
- Arcata (KACV)
- Highest injury
- Fatal
- Fatal injuries
- 2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Night, dark
Diamond Aircraft Ind Inc DA-40
- N-number
- N521DS
- Category
- Airplane
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.