Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Pine Mountain Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Groveland, California 95321
Monday, July 8, 1996 17:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the experimental, amateur-built airplane, reported that his landing and initial rollout on runway 27 was uneventful. However, as the airplane decelerated he lost directional control. According to the pilot, he applied left rudder pedal and 'a little' left brake pressure to correct his alignment, but the airplane did not adequately respond. He further stated that he then 'made the mistake of moving the steering lever' to redirect the airplane, and he 'over controlled.' At this time, the airplane veered toward the left side of the runway and the pilot turned the steering lever to the right. The pilot again over controlled, and the airplane veered right exiting off the right side of the runway and into the ground. He further reported that he believes the design of the airplane was faulty in that the nose wheel was constructed too close to the main landing gear, and the three wheels formed an equilateral triangle. Also, the nose steering mechanism allowed too much play, and the airplane's steering was sensitive. In a crosswind, the weathercocking force allowed the nose wheel fork to turn and angle the airplane toward the edge of the runway. At the time of the accident the wind was from 290 degrees at 8 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing in a crosswind. A contributing factor was related to the airplane's steering/handling characteristics.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/8/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | GROVELAND |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95321 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PINE MOUNTAIN LAKE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q68 |
| 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 | 2930 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1479 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 912 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N65V |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA269 |
| 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 | BOWLES/IRWIN |
| Aircraft Model | QUESTAIR VENTURE |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | QUESTAIR V |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 66 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 22 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HOWARD W. BOWLES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 434 DEVON CT. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN RAMON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94583 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WAYNE IRWIN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 12741 CRESTHAVEN DRIVE |
| Operator City | GROVELAND |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95321 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Q68 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | Q68 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 3625 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |