Santa Barbara Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Barbara, California 93102
Wednesday, April 8, 1998 16:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot misjudged the landing flare and the aircraft landed hard rupturing the nosewheel tire. The tire was replaced and the mechanic who replaced the tire declared the aircraft airworthy. The aircraft was flown to its home base where it was examined and found to have a distorted firewall and boot cowl. This was reported as an incident on April 8, 1998, and was upgraded to an accident on June 17, 1998.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudging the landing flare and subsequent hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/8/1998
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1645
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City SANTA BARBARA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93102
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SANTA BARBARA
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SBA
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 10
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 Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 567
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 17 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 954
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:57AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6417J
NTSB Number LAX98LA201
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier 172N
Aircraft Serial Number 17273871
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN G. VARGAS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 808 KENDALL AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City PASADENA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91030
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name FAST AVIATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 4015 NORTH SANTA ANITA AVENUE
Operator City EL MONTE
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 91731
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 VNY
Departure City VAN NUYS
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1535
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SBA
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 6052
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --