In December 2019, a Canadian-registry Piper Aerostar 602P with three aboard left Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, Mexico, to return home to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The group stopped overnight at Chino, California, east of Los Angeles—perhaps to visit the aviation museum there—and continued the next day to Nanaimo with a stop at Bishop, California. They left Bishop at 2:25 in the afternoon (1425 PST) on an IFR flight plan.
Classic Aftermath: An Attitude Indicator Fails at the Worst Time
Key Takeaways:
- A Piper Aerostar 602P crashed during an IFR approach to Nanaimo, BC, killing all three occupants, after the pilot reported an attitude indicator failure in dark, marginal weather conditions.
- Following the instrument failure, the aircraft experienced erratic changes in altitude, speed, and heading, indicating pilot disorientation and an eventual loss of control despite ATC guidance.
- The article emphasizes the extreme difficulty and danger of flying solely by backup instruments (partial panel) in IMC, as pilots often succumb to disorientation by relying on unreliable human perception.
- The accident highlights the critical importance for pilots to practice partial panel flying, including approaches and missed approaches, to effectively manage unexpected instrument failures.
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