Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chico Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chico, California 95927
Friday, December 24, 1993 18:06 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT & 2 PASSENGERS WERE RETURNING TO CHICO AT NIGHT. WHILE EN ROUTE, THE DESTINATION WEATHER BEGAN TO DETERIORATE. THE PILOT REQUESTED & RECEIVED SPECIAL VFR CLEARANCE INTO THE AIRPORT TRAFFIC AREA (ATA), & WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RUNWAY 13L. MINUTES LATER, HE TRANSMITTED HE WAS 'A LITTLE HIGH' & WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO GO AROUND. THE CONTROLLER THEN APPROVED THE FLIGHT FOR 'RIGHT TRAFFIC.' THE AIRPLANE CRASHED ON FLAT TERRAIN ABOUT 1 MILE WEST OF THE AIRPORT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED IT IMPACTED IN A LEFT WING LOW ATTITUDE WHILE ON A NORTHERLY HEADING. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND. ABOUT 1 MINUTE BEFORE THE CONTROLLER ISSUED THE SPECIAL VFR CLEARANCE, HE SENT A SPECIAL WEATHER OBSERVATION TO REDBLUFF FSS THAT THE WEATHER WAS: INDEFINITE CEILING; SKY OBSCURED; VISIBILITY ZERO. HE DID NOT TRANSMIT THIS INFO TO THE PILOT. HE CONTINUED TO APPROVE SPECIAL VFR OPERATIONS, ALTHOUGH HE COULD NOT SEE AIRCRAFT ON THE RUNWAY. TOWER WAS ABOUT 1/4 MILE FROM THE RUNWAY & ABOUT 5/8 MILE FROM THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
ISSUANCE OF AN IMPROPER (SPECIAL VFR) CLEARANCE BY THE TOWER CONTROLLER, WHILE THE VISIBILITY WAS LESS THAN ONE MILE, CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE AFTER BECOMING SPATIALLY DISORIENTED. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, FOG, FAILURE OF THE CONTROLLER TO ADVISE THE PILOT OF THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/24/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1806 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | CHICO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95927 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CHICO MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CIC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 240 |
| Airport Elevation | 238 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1805 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 238 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| 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) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1996 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 24 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1935 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4042X |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA079 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AERO COMMANDER |
| Aircraft Model | 100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5142 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2475 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 25 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 124 |
| Airframe Hours | 3529 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GUY S. QUIGLEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1424 HOBART ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHICO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95926 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GUY S. QUIGLEY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1424 HOBART ST. |
| Operator City | CHICO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95926 |
| 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 | PAO |
| Departure City | PALO ALTO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1623 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CIC |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 13L |
| Runway Length | 6724 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |