Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Nevada County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grass Valley, California 95945
Friday, October 11, 1991 16:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
IN AN ORAL STATEMENT, THE PILOT SAID THAT AS HE APPROACHED THE AIRPORT HE OBSERVED SQUALL LINE ACTIVITY AND DECIDED TO ORBIT UNTIL THE WEATHER CLEARED. AFTER THE WEATHER CONDITIONS VISUALLY IMPROVED, THE PILOT ENTERED THE PATTERN FOR LANDING. HE STATED THAT ON SHORT FINAL APPROACH THE AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED SEVERE TURBULENCE AND A DOWN DRAFT. THE PILOT INITIATED A GO AROUND, HOWEVER, THE AIRCRAFT ROLLED VIOLENTLY AND THE WING TIP STRUCK THE GROUND. AN AIRPORT ATTENDANT STATED THAT HE WAS IN THE OFFICE WHERE THE WEATHER OBSERVATION INSTRUMENTS ARE LOCATED AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. HE SAID THAT THE WINDS WERE 30 TO 40 KNOTS WITH SUDDEN 180 DEGREE CHANGES IN DIRECTION AT THE TIME THE PILOT ATTEMPTED HIS APPROACH. THUNDERSTORM CLOUDS WERE VISIBLE IN THE DISTANCE AND THE AIRPORT WAS EXPERIENCING INTERMITTENT HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE INADVERTENT ENCOUNTER WITH A MICROBURST/DOWNBURST PHENOMENA ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ADEQUATELY ASSESS THE WEATHER CONDITIONS DURING THE LANDING ATTEMPT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/11/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | GRASS VALLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95945 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NEVADA COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 017 |
| 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 | 3150 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| 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 | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 40 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1668 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 45545 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9559R |
| NTSB Number | LAX92LA012 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | K35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | K35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D6125 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2949 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 3 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 57 |
| Airframe Hours | 2380 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MIKE COLLISHAW |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1515 WALSH AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA CLARA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95050 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | MIKE COLLISHAW |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1515 WALSH AVENUE |
| Operator City | SANTA CLARA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95050 |
| 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 | RHV |
| Departure City | SAN JOSE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| 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 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 7 |
| Runway Length | 3920 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |