Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Travis Afb Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Suisun, California 94585
Friday, January 12, 1996 3:38 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The noninstrument-rated pilot had departed Napa about 0200 for a return flight to Concord (Buchanan Field). At 0235 the pilot contacted Travis AFB approach control stating he was unable to land at Buchanan Field due to weather, and requested radar vectors to the Rio Vista airport 12 miles east of Travis AFB. The pilot was vectored to Rio Vista but was unable to see the airport. He was informed that most of the airports in the area were fogged in. Air traffic control then vectored the pilot to Sacramento to intercept a localizer final approach course. The pilot was unable to track the localizer and received corrective vectors on final. The pilot missed the airport where the visibility was below minimums due to the fog; however, the pilot reported seeing lights when flying over the airport. ATC then coordinated a radar approach to Travis AFB which was also below minimums due to fog. The pilot accepted a vector to final approach course for the radar guided instrument approach procedure. He followed the radar controller's guidance and reported seeing the runway lights, but was unable to land on the 10,995-foot-long runway. The pilot turned the airplane to the right while trying to maintain visual contact with the runway lights. The airplane collided with level terrain while turning back towards the airport about 1/2 mile from the runway. The accident occurred 25 minutes after the pilot reported to air traffic control he had only 15 minutes of fuel left. Less than 3 gallons of fuel were found on the airplane at the accident site. The pilot tested positive for amphetamine, carbamazepine (antiseizure medication), and fluoxetine (Prozac - an antidepressant) at very high levels.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's continued flight into known adverse weather conditions which eventually led to a loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Factors in the accident were: the pilot's inadequate preflight planning, his impairment due to medication, the foggy weather conditions below weather minimums, and the dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/12/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 338 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SUISUN |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94585 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRAVIS AFB |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SUU |
| 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 | 62 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 340 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 284 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 62 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.06 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 438 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 12 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 410 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N18106 |
| NTSB Number | LAX96FA094 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15073789 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 4 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 190 |
| Airframe Hours | 6725 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CECIL BUCKLEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 5325 |
| Aircraft Owner City | STATE LINE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89449 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BUCHANAN FLYING CLUB |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 5895 |
| Operator City | CONCORD |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94520 |
| 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 | APC |
| Departure City | NAPA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CCR |
| Destination City | CONCORD |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 | 21L |
| Runway Length | 10995 |
| Runway Width | 300 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |