Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Panamint Springs Resort Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Panamint Spring, California 93522
Tuesady, July 15, 1997 14:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot received a 1 hour checkout in the aircraft on the day before the accident. Before departing on a flight from Camarillo to Inyokern, & then to Stovepipe Wells, CA, he obtained a preflight weather briefing. During an en route stop at Inyokern, the pilot refueled the airplane before continuing to Stovepipe Wells. Before reaching Stovepipe Wells, the airplane was observed to circle an undesignated/unmaintained airstrip at Panamint Springs Resort. The airstrip at Panamint Springs was the only landing strip between the refueling point & the planned destination, & it was not listed on any aeronautical charts. Also, the runway at Panamint Springs was oriented in about the same direction as the destination airport with runway 25 for landing (uphill) and runway 07 for takeoff (downhill). The destination runway was oriented to 05 and 23. At Panamint Springs, the pilot landed on runway 25 with a tailwind, then attempted a late go-around toward rapidly rising terrain. Witnesses said the aircraft touched down long and fast, then hit a dirt berm near the end of the strip. Subsequently, the aircraft crashed about 1/4 mile beyond the departure end of the runway. Runway 25 at Panamint Springs had an uphill gradient of 5.5 percent and no windsock. The density altitude was about 6,000 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to attain a proper touchdown point for landing, and his delay in initiating a go-around. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's attempt to land at the wrong airport, uphill slope of the runway, high density altitude, and rising terrain beyond the end of the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PANAMINT SPRING |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93522 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PANAMINT SPRINGS RESORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 260 |
| Airport Elevation | 1900 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KNI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2283 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 39 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6000 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1079 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 15 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1415 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N757CF |
| NTSB Number | LAX97FA241 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | TR182 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | TR182 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | R18201215 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Aug 19 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 89 |
| Airframe Hours | 2048 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SUN-AIR AVIATION INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 50 DURLEY AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAMARILLO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93010 |
| 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 | CMA |
| Departure City | CAMARILLO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L09 |
| Destination City | STOVEPIPE WELLS |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Go-around (VFR) |
| 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 | 25 |
| Runway Length | 2100 |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |