Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Havasu Palms Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Parker Dam, California 92267
Sunday, September 17, 1995 11:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had no recall of the accident sequence. Ground witnesses saw and heard the aircraft make an approach to the runway from the river towards the south. The weather was described by one witness as clear with light winds of 2 knots from the west. Another witness stated that the winds were 25 knots from the east. The aircraft was observed to approach with the landing gear down, then the engine revved up and the pilot pulled up and turned left. One witness said the aircraft stalled, then descended to ground impact across the ravine. A pilot-rated witness said the engine sounded normal throughout the sequence. The dirt airstrip is on the west bank of the Colorado river and sits atop a small plateau bordered by ravines on the east, west, and north sides. The south end of the runway has rapidly rising terrain within 1/2 mile. The aircraft was found about 1,200 feet down the runway and 150 yards to the east of the runway center line and across a ravine. The aircraft impacted against the trunk of a 25-foot-tall tree on the opposite upslope side of the ravine. No discrepancies were noted during the engine and airframe examination and disassembly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a go-around.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/17/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1150 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PARKER DAM |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92267 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HAVASU PALMS AIRSTRIP |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| 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 | 380 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1150 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EED |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 983 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3800 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1685 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 17 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1323 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41544 |
| NTSB Number | LAX95LA337 |
| 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-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7435197 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 20 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 3719 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STACY R. GORDON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 141 CRESCENT BAY DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAGUNA BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92651 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | LAS |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |