Healdsburg Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Healdsburg, California 95448
Thursday, April 27, 2000 12:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The runway is situated on a plateau with a windsock located at the departure end of the runway on a 30-foot steel pole. During climb out the airplane encountered a crosswind approximately 30 feet above the runway. Due to the unfavorable wind condition, the pilot was unable to maintain runway alignment and noted that the airplane did not gain altitude. The CFI took the control yoke and attempted to maintain airspeed and altitude while trying to avoid a vineyard. He noted that they were running out of suitable airport environment and terrain to make a forced landing and were not able to climb. In order to avoid the windsock, the CFI had to raise the nose; the airplane stalled and impacted a grassy area about 100 feet from the runway edge and about 20 feet below the airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the flight review pilot to compensate for the crosswind and maintain flying speed during takeoff.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/27/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1250
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City HEALDSBURG
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95448
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport HEALDSBURG MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O31
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 278
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
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 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 17
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10116
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 27 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1330
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2001 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N146TM
NTSB Number LAX00LA174
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 Piper
Aircraft Model J3C-65
Aircraft Series Identifier J3C-65
Aircraft Serial Number 22915
Certified Max Gross Weight 1220
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 13 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 19
Airframe Hours 3510
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name 333 FULTON, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6003 RED WINERY RD.
Aircraft Owner City GEYSERVILLE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95441
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name THOMAS NOONAN
Operator Same as Owner? No
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 031
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 031
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 15 2001 4:03AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 2707
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --