Boulder City Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boulder City, North Carolina 89005
Friday, July 11, 1997 17:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Interviews with pilots and the UNICOM operator revealed that the pilot did not receive any airport related weather information prior to his landing attempt. He said that he believed he had only a 10-knot tailwind when he initiated his landing attempt on runway 33, which he chose because it was uphill. The pilot said that he realized that he was not going to be able to successfully land the aircraft and elected to go-around. After retracting the landing gear and applying full power the airframe began to buffet and he elected to set the aircraft on the runway rather than stall the aircraft. The airport UNICOM operator reported that her first contact with the aircraft was after the accident when the pilot called her by radio to ask for a radio check. Additionally, several witnesses reported that the winds were blowing between 30 and 40 mph from a southerly direction when the accident occurred. One party described the windsock as standing straight out.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision, his failure to obtain the current wind information, his selection of the wrong runway, and his delay in aborting landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/11/1997
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BOULDER CITY
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89005
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 BOULDER CITY MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 61B
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 2201
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1556 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 286
Weather Observation Facility ID LAS
Elevation of weather observation facility 2175
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 22000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 12000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 37
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 28
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 2737
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 6
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 865
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
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 N7435S
NTSB Number LAX97LA244
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Smith, Ted Aerostar
Aircraft Model AEROSTAR 601
Aircraft Series Identifier AEROSTAR 6
Aircraft Serial Number 61-0020
Certified Max Gross Weight 5700
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 19 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 55
Airframe Hours 2790
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT DALE LEACH
Aircraft Owner Street Address 10795 SAN SEVAINE WAY
Aircraft Owner City MIRA LOMA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91752
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 F70
Departure City MURRIETA
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 61B
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 33
Runway Length 3850
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --