Catalina Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Avalon, California 90704
Sunday, June 16, 1996 15:02 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Ground witnesses stated that the pilot did not flare and the aircraft touched down hard on the nose wheel and porpoised twice. On the second bounce the aircraft veered off the runway and toward a line of parked aircraft. The pilot attempted to recover by adding power; however, the aircraft stalled, impacted the ground, and collided with three parked aircraft.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to initiate a landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing and porpoise, and his loss of directional control during an attempt to initiate a go-around with insufficient airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush and collision with parked aircraft. A visual illusion created by the runway gradient was a factor in this accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/16/1996
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1502
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City AVALON
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90704
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport CATALINA
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AVX
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 1602
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1500 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID AVX
Elevation of weather observation facility 1602
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1642
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 16 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:04AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6261D
NTSB Number LAX96LA235
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier 172N
Aircraft Serial Number 17272672
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 3 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 9
Airframe Hours 5465
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MAMOOD NAMDAR
Aircraft Owner Street Address 19531 CAMPUS DRIVE, SUITE #2
Aircraft Owner City SANTA ANA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92707
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 SNA
Departure City SANTA ANA
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1420
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code AVX
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
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 22
Runway Length 3240
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --