Montague Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Montague, California 96064
Tuesady, April 6, 2004 15:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with terrain following an in-flight loss of control. The pilot was practicing short field takeoffs and landings on runway 5/23, a turf runway 2,080 feet long. His first landing was on runway 23. He taxied back to he departure end of runway 23 and departed with 20 degrees of flaps. He made a right-hand traffic pattern, and repeated the procedure. The pilot then departed runway 5, starting the departure roll approximately 600 feet from the beginning of the runway. At the intersection of runway 14/32, an asphalt runway, the airplane bounced and became airborne. The airplane climbed to approximately 350 feet agl, and then began turning right. The pilot attempted to correct the right turn with left rudder and aileron. The airplane shuddered and began to stall just prior to impact into an open field. The airplane slid 300 feet before coming to rest. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during the takeoff climb, which led to a stall/mush. Factors to the accident were the uneven intersection of the two runways, and the pilot's failure to use all of the available runway, and the premature liftoff from the runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/6/2004
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1550
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Montague
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96064
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 414350N
Event Location Longitude 1223244W
Event Location Airport Montague
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1O6
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SIY
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15720
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 6 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1615
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 30 2004 12:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N686H
NTSB Number LAX04CA179
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model 95-A55
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number TC292
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Perry Garrison and Thomas Fischer
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Anchorage
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Thomas Fischer
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Anchorage
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99503
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 1O5
Departure City Montague
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1545
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 29 2004 4:07PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 5
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --