Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Taft Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taft, California 93308
Tuesady, July 19, 1994 14:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE (EMS/MEDEVAC) FLIGHT WAS DISPATCHED TO TRANSPORT A PATIENT IN RESPONSE TO A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. DURING ARRIVAL TO THE DESTINATION, THE PILOT CONTACTED THE AIRPORT UNICOM FOR ADVISORIES AND WAS ADVISED TO LAND ON RUNWAY 25. RUNWAY 25 HAD A 2.2 PERCENT UPHILL GRADE AND WAS RESTRICTED TO LANDINGS ONLY. AFTER LANDING, THE AIRPLANE WAS REFUELED AND THE PATIENT WAS PUT ON BOARD. THE PILOT BACK-TAXIED ON RUNWAY 25 AND PROCEEDED TO TAKEOFF UPHILL WITH THE AIRPLANE NEAR ITS MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT. ACCORDING TO GROUND WITNESSES, THERE WAS A TAILWIND, WHICH THEY ESTIMATED WAS BETWEEN 4 AND 15 KNOTS. THE TEMPERATURE WAS ABOUT 100 DEGREES, AND THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS ABOUT 3200 FEET. AFTER THE AIRPLANE BECAME AIRBORNE, THE PILOT STARTED AN IMMEDIATE LEFT TURN TO AVOID RISING TERRAIN. HOWEVER, THE LEFT TIP TANK CONTACTED THE GROUND, AND THE AIRPLANE CARTWHEELED. IT CAME TO REST ABOUT 711 FEET FROM THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE FLAPS AND LANDING GEAR WERE FOUND FULLY EXTENDED; THE PUBLISHED CONFIGURATION FOR TAKEOFF DATA IN THE FLIGHT MANUAL WAS FOR 'WING FLAPS - UP.' THE AIRPORT HAD NO SIGNS TO INDICATE RUNWAY USE RESTRICTIONS; HOWEVER, THE RESTRICTIONS WERE PUBLISHED IN THE AIRPORT FACILITY DIRECTORY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION AND SELECTION OF THE WRONG RUNWAY FOR TAKEOFF. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE UPHILL SLOPE OF THE RUNWAY, TAILWIND, HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, AND FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO CORRECTLY CONFIGURE THE FLAPS FOR TAKEOFF.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/19/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1420 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TAFT |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93308 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TAFT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L17 |
| 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 | 875 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2054 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 669 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 13000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3200 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1417 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 19 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1550 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N414RH |
| NTSB Number | LAX94FA292 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 414 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 414 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0457 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6825 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 3739 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROGERS HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2403 BULLARD AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CLOVIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93612 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | CUCA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | L17 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FAT |
| Destination City | FRESNO |
| 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 | 25 |
| Runway Length | 3550 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |