Partenavia P 68C accident near Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, January 15, 2007
On January 15, 2007 at about 8:15 am local time, a Partenavia P 68C, registered N90KB, was substantially damaged in an accident near Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 2 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance with mountainous terrain for undetermined reasons during a normal descent under instrument meteorological and dark night conditions.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 15, 2007 · about 8:15 am local time
- Place
- Adjuntas, Puerto Rico · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Partenavia P 68C
- Registration
- N90KB · registry record · serial 365
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The non-instrument rated pilot departed VFR on a dark night at 0359, with an adequate fuel supply for the intended flight, and proceeded in a south-southeasterly heading (approximately 150 degrees) climbing to a maximum altitude of 4,700 feet msl. The flight continued on the south-southeasterly heading, descended to 4,500 feet msl, then descended gradually to 3,800 feet msl where radar contact was lost at 0411:37. The flight continued 4.6 nautical miles on the south-southeasterly heading, and impacted trees in upslope mountainous terrain while on a magnetic heading of 150 degrees. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire; the accident site was located north of, and approximately 146 feet below an east-west oriented ridge line. The tree elevation was 3,299 feet msl, while the elevation at a ridge south of the site was 3,445 feet msl. Cloud tops in the area were calculated to be about 4,000 feet msl. Examination of the airplane structure, flight controls, engines, propellers, and systems revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. The altimeter settings for the departure and destination airports were 30.02 inches Hg and 30.01 inches Hg, respectively. The altimeter was found positioned to 29.91 inches Hg. This error would have resulted in the altimeter reading 100 feet lower than if the correct altimeter setting was entered.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land
- Flight time: 13,000 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,611.1 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, October 1, 2006
- Maximum gross weight: 4,387 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: TJBQ Aguadilla PR at 7:59 am
- Destination: TJPS Ponce PR
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 030° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 8 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 2,500 ft
- Temperature: 72°F (22°C), dew point 64°F (18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.01 inHg
- Observation at 7:50 am from TJPS, 16 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number MIA07FA042.