Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Martin, California 95046
Monday, January 10, 1994 7:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that as the aircraft entered the initial climb after rotation, the airspeed began decreasing. He lowered the nose slightly to counter the decreasing airspeed and the aircraft hit the ground shortly thereafter. FBO personnel at the airport said the pilot attempted to takeoff with ground visibility of 150 feet in heavy fog. The FBO line person who fueled the aircraft just prior to departure stated that he had to 'scrape ice away from the fuel filler ports on the wings in order to open the fuel caps.' The line person said the ice was like frozen dew and very rough in character. An FAA inspector stated that he found a series of propeller slashes in the ground just beyond the end of the runway. A path of ground scars led through a damaged fence and terminated at the aircraft wreckage about one eighth of a mile from the runway end. No discrepancies were noted in the examination of the aircraft or engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper aircraft preflight inspection, and his failure to use pitot heat during the takeoff in icing conditions, which led to a blocked pitot tube. The blockage resulted in erroneous airspeed indications during the initial climb, which induced the pilot to reduce the aircraft pitch attitude to a point where the aircraft entered an uncorrected descent to ground impact.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/10/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SAN MARTIN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95046 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SOUTH COUNTY AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q99 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 281 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 150 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.05 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 185 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 10 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 850 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5384W |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA091 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | P210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | P210N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P21000681 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 225 |
| Airframe Hours | 2039 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT J. KUSHNER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 15005 OSBURN COURT |
| Aircraft Owner City | MORGAN HILL |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95037 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROBERT J. KUSHNER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 15005 OSBURN COURT |
| Operator City | MORGAN HILL |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95037 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Q99 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MMH |
| Destination City | MAMMOTH LAKES |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |