Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fly Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gerlach, Nevada 89412
Sunday, August 31, 1997 9:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft collided with the runway and drug the right wing tip during a landing attempt. The aircraft then ground looped to the right off the runway. The pilot stated that the airplane had insufficient power to compensate for an increased sink rate on short final. A witness on the ground saw the wings rocking from side to side when the aircraft was at an altitude of approximately 40 feet, followed by a sudden veer to the left and an increase in sink rate prior to impact with the ground. The passenger, who was not a pilot, reported that 'we were crabbing and I thought he [the pilot] was pulling out' just prior to the ground collision.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while attempting a right slip, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | GERLACH |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89412 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FLY RANCH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 4000 |
| 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 | 18000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 521 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1045 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4459P |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA308 |
| 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 | Taylorcraft |
| Aircraft Model | BC-12D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BC-12D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6673 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1280 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 5 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 1249 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM A. GRUENTHAL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5420 BROADWAY RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | LIVE OAK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95953 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WILLIAM J. GRUENTHAL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5586 BROADWAY RD |
| Operator City | LIVE OAK |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95953 |
| 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 | 4SD |
| Departure City | STEAD |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | NV |
| 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 | 36 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |