Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Carson City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carson City, Nevada 89706
Monday, October 12, 1998 14:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed El Monte, California, to attend a convention in Reno, Nevada, but planned to park the aircraft in Carson City, Nevada. After an intermediate stop in Bishop, California, the flight arrived at Carson City. The pilot said UNICOM informed him that the winds were calm, and he elected to land on runway 27. He stated that he did not look at the windsock while in the pattern. The pilot stated he experienced some turbulence and crosswind on landing. The right main landing gear collapsed and separated from the aircraft. After departing the runway and crossing a drainage ditch, the airplane came to rest. A witness working in his office at the airport noticed the airplane in the traffic pattern and observed that the airplane would be landing with a quartering tailwind. He stated that local pilots are aware of a hill northeast of the airport that can disturb the air on the approach to this runway when the wind is from that direction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to verify the wind direction and speed, his selection of the wrong runway for the existing wind conditions, and, his inadequate compensation for those wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/12/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | CARSON CITY |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89706 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | CARSON CITY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CXP |
| 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 | 4697 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4412 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 1566 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 12 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1605 |
| 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 | N5078W |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA010 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-87 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | Jan 12 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 3565 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ATC CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 572 E. GREEN STE 308 |
| Aircraft Owner City | PASADENA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91101 |
| 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 | BIH |
| Departure City | BISHOP |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CXP |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5900 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |