Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Laton, California 93242
Tuesady, August 29, 2000 17:22 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane spiraled into a walnut grove near a friend's home. The pilot frequently flew over his friend's home at low altitude. As he flew by the north side of the home in a left turn at an estimated 300 feet agl, he opened the window and said, "hello." His friend on the ground invited him to come visit after his flight and he responded, "we will." The airplane continued the left turn, momentarily leveled out, then banked left and began to turn left again. By this point the airplane had completed 270 degrees of turn. This turn initially appeared to be like the others the witnesses previously observed; however, this time the bank angle continued to rapidly increase so that they observed the tops of the airplane's wings. They observed a simultaneous rapid movement of the nose to a nearly vertical nose down position. Investigators discovered no discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane or engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering, resulting in a stall at an altitude too low to allow recovery.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/29/2000
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1722
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LATON
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93242
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 130
Weather Observation Facility ID HJO
Elevation of weather observation facility 242
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 9
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) 82
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 55
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10881
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 29 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1745
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 N11919
NTSB Number LAX00FA319
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150L
Aircraft Series Identifier 150L
Aircraft Serial Number 15075711
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 Mar 20 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 31
Airframe Hours 3272
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PATRICK C. SULLIVAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City HANFORD
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93230
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
Departure City HANFORD
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
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 Maneuvering
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 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --