Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Holiday Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Apple Valley, California 92307
Monday, July 23, 1990 20:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT/OWNER ARRIVED ABT 1.5 HR BEFORE SUNSET TO TAKE DELIVERY OF THE ACFT AFTER IT WAS GIVEN A NEW PAINT JOB. NEWLY UPHOLSTERED FRONT SEATS WERE REINSTALLED & THE ACFT WAS PREFLTD & GIVEN AN ENG RUN-UP ON THE RAMP TO AVOID A RUN-UP OVER GRAVEL. THE PLT INITIATED A TAKEOFF ON RWY 34, WHICH WAS ONLY 1650' LONG. THE RWY SURFACE CONSISTED OF SOFT DIRT & SAND. A WITNESS RPRTD THE ACFT BECAME AIRBORNE AT THE DEP END OF THE RWY & REACHED AN ALT OF ABT 30 FT. IT THEN SETTLED IN A LEVEL ATTITUDE, COLLIDED WITH YUCCA TREES & BURNED AFTER COMING TO REST. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE DENSITY ALT AT THE ARPT WAS ABT 5700'; ABT 15 MI WEST AT GEORGE AFB, THE WIND WAS FM 200 DEG AT 12 KTS. A WITNESS NEAR THE ACDNT SITE ESTD THE WIND WAS FM THE SW AT 2 TO 5 KTS. THE STABILATOR TRIM WAS FND IN A FULL NOSE DOWN PSN. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FND. FLAPS WERE FND IN THE FULLY RETRACTED PSN.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER PREFLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: FAILUE OF THE PILOT TO CONFIGURE THE AIRCRAFT'S FLAPS FOR A SOFT FIELD TAKEOFF, HIS IMPROPER USE OF STABILATOR TRIM, HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, SOFT RUNWAY, AND TREES NEAR THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2015 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | APPLE VALLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92307 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HOLIDAY RANCH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 27CA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 3260 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VCV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2875 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | -18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5700 |
| 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) | 2124 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 23 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2150 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43570 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41455 |
| NTSB Number | LAX90FA265 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-151 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-151 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7415219 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MICHAEL J. NELSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 341 W. SCOTT |
| Aircraft Owner City | RIALTO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92376 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2015 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L67 |
| Destination City | RIALTO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 1650 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |