Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Van Nuys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Nuys, California 91406
Friday, August 23, 1991 18:11 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE RECENTLY CERTIFICATED COMMERCIAL PILOT LOADED THE AIRPLANE TO APPROXIMATELY ITS MAXIMUM CERTIFICATED GROSS WEIGHT. HE THEN ATTEMPTED TO TAKEOFF USING ONE NOTCH OF WING FLAPS ON THE 4,000 FOOT LONG RUNWAY. AN 8,000 FOOT LONG RUNWAY WAS AVAILABLE. IT WAS A HOT (98 DEG. F.) DAY AND DURING THE GROUND ROLL THE PILOT OVERROTATED, SCRAPED THE TAIL SKID, AND ELECTED TO ABORT THE TAKEOFF. INSUFFICIENT DISTANCE REMAINED TO STOP. THE AIRPLANE OVERRAN THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY, COLLIDED WITH A FENCE AND A DIRT BANK, AND THEN CAUGHT ON FIRE. PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT, THE PILOT'S TOTAL 'IN COMMAND' EXPERIENCE IN THE AIRPLANE WAS 1.0 HOUR. PERFORMANCE DATA INDICATED THAT USING PROPER CONTROL INPUTS AND USING TWO NOTCHES OF WING FLAPS, THE AIRPLANE MIGHT HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEEN ABLE TO TAKEOFF USING THE SHORTER RUNWAY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
(1) THE PILOT'S IMPROPER PREFLIGHT PREPARATION; (2) THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE AIRPLANE MANUFACTURER'S PERFORMANCE DATA BY HIS SELECTION OF AN IMPROPER FLAP POSITION FOR TAKEOFF; AND (3) THE PILOT'S CHOICE OF A RUNWAY TOO SHORT FOR A SAFE TAKEOFF. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: (1) THE PILOT'S TOTAL LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE AIRPLANE WHICH WAS MANIFESTED BY HIS IMPROPER POSITIONING OF THE WING FLAPS; AND (2) THE PILOT'S IMPROPER STABILATOR CONTROL USAGE DURING ROTATION FOR TAKEOFF.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1811 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | VAN NUYS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91406 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | VAN NUYS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VNY |
| 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 | 799 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1812 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 1 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 799 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3500 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 6 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2087 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 46311 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9507C |
| NTSB Number | LAX91FA366 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32RT-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32RT-30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7885051 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM |
| 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 | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SAN-VAL FLYING SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7535 VALJEAN AVE. |
| Operator City | VAN NUYS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 91406 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1810 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAS |
| Destination City | LAS VEGAS |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |