Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Paso Robles Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Paso Robles, California 93446
Saturday, June 19, 1999 11:03 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane quickly became airborne and started an extremely steep climb for several hundred feet, which was followed by an equally steep descent until the airplane collided with terrain. The airplane had just completed one jump flight, and a different pilot fueled the airplane in preparation for the accident flight. The airplane was configured with one seat on the left side for the pilot and a 2-inch pad with seat belts for up to four skydivers. One skydiver was kneeling facing forward in the most aft position of the cabin, two were facing aft in the middle of the cabin, and one (the survivor) was leaning against a bulkhead in the front right position and facing aft. The survivor was secured by a lap belt and said the other jumpers were strapped in as well. His harness moved him away from the instrument panel, but his head was level with the pilot's thighs. The pilot did not do a run-up and taxied straight onto the runway for takeoff. After takeoff the survivor observed the pilot "furiously working" her right hand from liftoff to ground contact. She was reaching right but it was not determined whether she was rolling something or working her arm up and down. She maintained her normal sitting position and did not move forward or aft. One of the first rescuers noted the fatally injured pilot and the survivor were suspended by their seat belts as the airplane lay inverted; the other occupants were ejected from the airplane. The seat belt behind the pilot was dangling unbuckled when rescuers reached the airplane. When the Safety Board investigator arrived on scene, all of the belts were observed to be hanging vertically and unbuckled. Post accident investigation revealed no discrepancies with the airframe, engine, or seat belts. Both the before start and before takeoff check lists instructed the pilot to verify that the adjustable stabilizer control wheel was in the "takeoff range." The system's section noted control wheel forces would be very heavy if the stabilizer was not properly set.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to set the trim as prescribed by the published check list. This led to a steep climb angle which caused the airspeed to decay, resulting in a stall at an altitude too low to allow recovery.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/19/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1103 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PASO ROBLES |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93446 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | PASO ROBLES MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PRB |
| 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 | 190 |
| Airport Elevation | 836 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 836 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12011 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 19 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4824D |
| NTSB Number | LAX99FA220 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34924 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DANIEL H. DOUGHERTY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | DAVIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95616 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | DAVID HUGHES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4990 WING WAY |
| Operator City | PASO ROBLES |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 93446 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PRB |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | 1102 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 11 2002 2:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 6009 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |