Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Los Banos Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Los Banos, California 93635
Wednesday, September 9, 1998 17:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had landed at the airport over an hour earlier with no problems and waited to meet another airplane. On departure he estimated the winds to be 20 to 30 knots approximately 90 degrees to the runway. After a long takeoff roll he lifted off. As he relaxed the controls the aircraft drifted off the runway and settled into the dirt. At that time the pilot elected to abort the takeoff. Noticing a ditch and cornfield in his path the pilot tried to ground loop the airplane. The aircraft turned sharply into the wind and the tail dug into the soft dirt. Both wing tips scraped the ground, the left main landing gear was bent, the fuselage was twisted behind the cockpit, and the tail cone was dented. A mechanic at the field noted that the aircraft that had departed immediately prior to this aircraft had veered off and then back on the runway during takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to takeoff in adverse wind conditions and inadequate compensation for the existing crosswind conditions, which resulted in a failure to maintain runway alignment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/9/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | LOS BANOS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93635 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | LOS BANOS MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LSN |
| 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 | 119 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| 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 | 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) | 993 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 9 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1720 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N22JK |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA288 |
| 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 | Ryan |
| Aircraft Model | ST3KR |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | ST3KR |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1697 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1885 |
| 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 | Sep 27 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 2500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN W. MCMAINS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19459 BURGANDY WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | SARATOGA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95070 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LSN |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FCH |
| Destination City | FRESNO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3005 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |