North Las Vegas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Las Vegas, Nevada 89030
Friday, September 22, 2000 17:06 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing, the aircraft veered off the left side of the runway, contacted the runway edge, and collapsed the nose gear. According to the pilot, he unsuccessfully attempted to compensate for a wind gust. The recorded winds at the time of the accident included variable 30-knot gusts between 150 and 210 degrees.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the gusty and variable crosswind conditions. Factors were the variable and gusty crosswinds.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/22/2000
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1706
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City NORTH LAS VEGAS
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89030
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport North Las Vegas
Event Location Nearest Airport ID VGT
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 2205
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1647 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID VGT
Elevation of weather observation facility 2205
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 30
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.47
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
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) 12343
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 22 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 24 2003 10:23AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2963P
NTSB Number LAX00LA351
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-22-150
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-22-150
Aircraft Serial Number 22-3236
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2721
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT E. MITCHELL, SR.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City WOODINVILLE
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98072
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RNO
Departure City RENO
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1406
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code VGT
Destination City North Las Vegas
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 19 2002 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 5004
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --