Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Carlos Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Carlos, California 94070
Wednesday, August 18, 1999 14:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On takeoff the pilot reported that the left canopy latch popped open. He verified that the right canopy latch was secure and radioed that he was returning to land. After turning an early crosswind and leveling his wings, the canopy came open in flight. The pilot made a mayday call, held the control stick full forward, and made a landing on a dirt road off the departure end of the runway. According to the aircraft manufacturer, if the aft hinged canopy opens in flight, a significant increase in drag occurs and controllability becomes marginal. An FAA inspector examined the aircraft's canopy after the accident. He could not identify any malfunctions with either of the canopy latches. He then functionally checked both of the corresponding latch closed micro switches and the enunciator light circuits, and found that they were working properly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The release of the aircraft's left canopy latch following takeoff resulting in the subsequent opening of the canopy in flight. The opened canopy resulted in a degradation of aircraft control and the subsequent hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1420 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN CARLOS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94070 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SAN CARLOS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SQL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 120 |
| Airport Elevation | 5 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1420 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SQL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1549 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 18 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1620 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N854DF |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA264 |
| 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 | Diamond Aircraft Industries |
| Aircraft Model | KATANA DA 20-A1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | KATANA DA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10181 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1609 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 1119 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DIAMOND AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 620 AIRPORT DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN CARLOS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94070 |
| 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 | SQL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1419 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |