Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merced Muni/Mcready Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merced, California 95340
Saturday, May 22, 1999 14:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was practicing touch-and-go landings. He stated that on the last landing the aircraft landed hard and bounced. He decided to do a go-around and added power. The pilot reported that the power came up and the engine sounded normal; however, the aircraft didn't climb. The airplane then veered about 10 to 20 degrees to the left. The pilot stated that he realized something was wrong and cut the power. The wingtips and propeller impacted the ground and the aircraft came to rest upright about 150 feet northwest of the 1,000-foot runway marker. The pilot reported that he has no memory of the events following the reduction of power until another person arrived at the accident site. There were no witnesses to the accident; however, another pilot heard the crash and helped the pilot egress from the aircraft. The winds were reported to be variable at 4 knots at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper/inadequate use of the rudders during the attempted recovery from a bounced landing and his subsequent failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/22/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | MERCED |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95340 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MERCED MUNI/MCREADY FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MCE |
| 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 | 156 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1435 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 22 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1607 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N93J |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA193 |
| 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 | Aerotek |
| Aircraft Model | PITTS SPECIAL S-1S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PITTS SPEC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1-0030 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 6 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 742 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TOM KING HARRIS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 62776 EAST SOUTH BEAR CREEK DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | MERCED |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95340 |
| 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 | MCE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| 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 | 30 |
| Runway Length | 5903 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |