Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Truckee, California 95734
Saturday, August 12, 1995 13:18 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE'S COURTESY LIGHT WAS LEFT ON, DEPLETING BATTERY POWER. THE PILOT STARTED THE ENGINE USING EXTERNAL POWER. THE AIRPLANE'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM INDICATED THE ALTERNATOR WAS CHARGING THE BATTERY DURING THE ENGINE RUN-UP. THE PILOT DEPARTED WITH THE BATTERY STILL CHARGING. ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, WHILE THE GEAR MOTOR WAS RETRACTING THE LANDING GEAR, THE ELECTRICAL RADIO EQUIPMENT FLASHED ON AND OFF. THE PILOT RECYCLED THE MASTER SWITCH AND SMELLED SOMETHING BURNING. HE ELECTED TO CONTINUE THE APPROXIMATE 1 HOUR FLIGHT TO HIS DESTINATION WITHOUT ELECTRICAL POWER. WHILE EN ROUTE, THE PILOT ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE, SLOWED THE AIRPLANE, AND MANUALLY LOWERED THE LANDING GEAR. HE TURNED ON THE MASTER SWITCH FOR THE LANDING, AND THE SMELL RETURNED. THE PILOT LANDED THE AIRPLANE WITHOUT ELECTRICAL POWER AND WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE IF THE LANDING GEAR WAS SAFE. DURING TOUCHDOWN, THE RIGHT MAIN LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED, AND THE AIRPLANE VEERED OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A FAILURE IN THE AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE (OR INABILITY) TO EXTEND THE LANDING GEAR WITH THE EMERGENCY EXTENSION SYSTEM. A FACTOR RELATING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE PILOT'S DECISION TO CONTINUE THE FLIGHT WITH A KNOWN DEFICIENCY.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1318 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TRUCKEE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95734 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRUCKEE-TAHOE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRK |
| 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 | 5900 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1318 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5900 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8200 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1326 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8386H |
| NTSB Number | LAX95LA292 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-301T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32R-301 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-8129067 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 12 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 2347 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SIERRA ARROW |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 264 VILLAGE BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | INCLINE VILLAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89451 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | D'ASCOLI, VINCENT P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 4151 |
| Operator City | INCLINE VILLAGE |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 89450 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SJC |
| Departure City | SAN JOSE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TRK |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 28 |
| Runway Length | 7000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |