The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary investigation following the October 17 crash of a small plane in the San Bernardino Mountains that killed Santa Barbara residents Bob Trimble and Terri Day. The report states that 71-year-old pilot Trimble was in radio contact with an air traffic controller when his Piper PA-28R-180 plane collided with San Gorgonio Mountain.
Trimble and Day, 50, were returning from the Palm Springs Air Museum, where Trimble had just donated a fellow Vietnam War veteran’s Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POI/MIA) bracelet . According to the accident report prepared by NTSB Investigator Eliott Simpson, the private plane departed from Palm Springs International Airport for Santa Barbara Municipal Airport at approximately 3:13 p.m. Because Trimble was flying as a private pilot, he was using visual flight rules, which means he was looking out the window to maintain his position, Simpson said. Trimble hadn’t filed an instrument flight plan detailing specifics of his trip like route, altitude, and estimated time of arrival with air traffic controllers.
About six minutes later, Trimble radioed an air traffic controller at Southern California TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) and asked for flight following to guide him to Santa Barbara. Trimble said, “It looks like we might have to get up to 9,000 feet with the clouds.” The controller responded with a squawk code, altimeter settings, and instructions to maintain visual flight rule conditions at an altitude Trimble deemed appropriate, as well as confirmation that he had made radar contact with the plane.