Little Butte Antique Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lancaster, California 93536
Saturday, July 15, 2000 11:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was on approach to the dirt airstrip where he based his airplane when he encountered wind gusts, which he said buffeted him around and caused a loss of lift. The airplane came into contact with power lines, which were about 30 feet agl. The airplane descended nose first and struck the ground.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for gusty winds conditions that resulted in the collision with a power line during final approach.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/15/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1150
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LANCASTER
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93536
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport LITTLE BUTTE ANTIQUE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ICL1
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 2400
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1155 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 105
Weather Observation Facility ID WJF
Elevation of weather observation facility 2347
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
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 None
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) 93
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 43
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 22
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10892
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 15 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1230
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 7:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8768D
NTSB Number LAX00LA267
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 PA-22-160
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-22-160
Aircraft Serial Number 22-5955
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 4 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48
Airframe Hours 3042
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT MILTON CRITCHLOW
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City WRIGHTWOOD
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92397
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 No
Departure Airport Code L94
Departure City TEHACHAPI
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 1CL1
Destination City
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2001 10:40AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 2900
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --