Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ramona Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ramona, California 92065
Wednesday, June 21, 1995 11:08 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A DOUGLAS C-54G & BEECH 58P WERE ON A FIRE SUPPRESSION MISSION WITH THE USDA FOREST SERVICE. THE C-54 (TANKER 19) WAS BEING USED AS AN AERIAL TANKER, WHILE THE BEECH 58 (LEAD 56) WAS ON A LEAD OPERATION. LEAD 56 DEPARTED THE FIRE AREA ABOUT 5 MINUTES BEFORE TANKER 19. BOTH AIRPLANES PROCEEDED TO AN UNCONTROLLED AIRPORT AT RAMONA,CA, FOR LANDING ON RUNWAY 27 WITH A 360-DEGREE OVERHEAD APPROACH. TANKER 19 WAS ON THE INITIAL APPROACH ABOUT 1 MILE EAST OF THE AIRPORT, WHEN THE TWO PLANES COLLIDED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT LEAD 56 STRUCK THE VERTICAL STABILIZER OF TANKER 19, WHILE DESCENDING. THE EMPENNAGES OF BOTH AIRPLANES SEPARATED, & BOTH CRASHED IN UNCONTROLLED DESCENTS. BEFORE THE ACCIDENT, A GRUMMAN S2 PILOT WAS FOLLOWING TANKER 19. WHILE IN A SHALLOW DESCENT TO THE AIRPORT, HE SAW TANKER 19 SLIGHTLY BELOW THE HORIZON & HEARD TANKER 19 MAKE TWO CALLS (AT 8 & 2 MILES ON INITIAL APPROACH). HE ALSO HEARD A TRANSMISSION FROM LEAD 56 MOMENTS BEFORE THE COLLISION, BUT DID NOT SEE LEAD 56, NOR WAS HE WATCHING TANKER 19 WHEN THE COLLISION OCCURRED. INVESTIGATORS WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE LEAD 56'S ACTIVITIES AFTER DEPARTING THE FIRE AREA. TRANSMISSIONS WERE HEARD FROM LEAD 56 ON THE FOREST SERVICE TACTICAL (OPERATIONS) FREQUENCY WHEN THE PLANE WAS WITHIN 10 MILES OF THE AIRPORT. MOMENTS BEFORE THE COLLISION, LEAD 56 WAS HEARD ON THE AIRPORT'S COMMON TRAFFIC ADVISORY FREQUENCY (CTAF). FOREST SERVICE PROCEDURES REQUIRED THAT ALL PILOTS TRANSMIT THEIR POSITION ON THE CTAF WITHIN 10 MILES OF THE AIRPORT. THE FOREST SERVICE HAD NOT MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH THE AIRPORT MANAGER TO PERFORM OVERHEAD APPROACHES, NOR WERE PARAMETERS PUBLISHED FOR INITIAL APPROACH ALTITUDE OR AIRSPEED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE BEECH 58P PILOT, AND THE OPERATOR'S INADEQUATE PROCEDURES CONCERNING 360-DEGREE OVERHEAD APPROACHES.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/21/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1108 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | RAMONA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92065 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | RAMONA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L39 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 1393 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| 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 | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 80 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 873 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 21 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1128 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4989P | N156Z |
| NTSB Number | LAX95GA219A | LAX95GA219B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DOUGLAS | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | C-54G | 58P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C-54G | 58P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 36082 | TJ369 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 71800 | 6700 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 4 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 1995 12:00AM | Jun 15 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 23507 | 1930 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- | U.S.D.A. FOREST SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | 3833 S. DEVELOPMENT AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHICO | BOISE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95926 | 83705 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | -- |
| Operator Name | -- | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | |
| Operator City | -- | |
| Operator State | -- | |
| Operator Country | -- | |
| Operator Zip code | -- | |
| Operator Code | -- | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture | 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) | Public Use | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HMT | ONT |
| Departure City | HEMET | ONTARIO |
| Departure State | CA | CA |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1022 | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | L39 | L39 |
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 4 2002 4:09PM | Jul 25 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4000 | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |