Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ocean Ridge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gualala, California 95445
Saturday, June 14, 1997 12:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airport manager reported that conditions of low clouds and fog existed at the airport at the time of the accident, and the sun was not visible. The tops of the trees, which surround the airport, were in the clouds. Visibility was about 1/4 mile. There was an area of blue sky visible north of the airport. The aircraft approached from the north to the 2,500-foot-long runway, but overshot the approach and was unable to land. The pilot applied full engine power and started a go-around. The airport manager reported losing sight of the aircraft in the fog, but he heard it maneuvering near the airport until he heard the sound of an impact. The pilot indicated that he maneuvered the airplane onto a base leg; then realized he was too low and added power. The engine responded after 'some hesitation,' then the airplane impacted trees and crashed. The 14-year-old passenger reported that they entered the clouds as they circled the airport, and she could only see the ground intermittently. She briefly saw trees, the pilot called 'hang on,' then they crashed. Another witness reported the visibility was about 100 feet under overcast clouds.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
continued VFR flight by the pilot into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance from tall trees. The weather conditions (low ceiling and fog) were related factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/14/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | GUALALA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95445 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | OCEAN RIDGE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q69 |
| 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 | 125 |
| Airport Elevation | 940 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1145 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 203 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UKI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 614 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 328 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 14 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40654 |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA211 |
| 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 | Maule |
| Aircraft Model | M-4-220C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M-4-220C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2169C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Mar 21 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 1461 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TIMOTHY D. WARLICK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2273 GRAHAM RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | BAYSIDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95524 |
| 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 | EKA |
| Departure City | EUREKA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1110 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | Q69 |
| 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 | 31 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |