Tracy Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tracy, California 95376
Thursday, August 24, 1989 9:27 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

BEECH 95 (N9750Y) WAS TRACKING SOUTH AT APRX 185 KTS AS CESSNA 180 (N42695) WAS TRACKING 118 DEG AT ABOUT 147 KTS. BOTH WERE IN VMC, RCVG RADAR SVC (VFR FLT FLWG) FM STOCKTON TRACON. DRG AUTOMATED RADAR HANDOFFS TO TRACY SECTOR (TR) CTLR, THE PLTS RPRTD AT 5500' MSL. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE 2 ACFT CONVERGED, COLLIDED AT ABOUT 5500' MSL, THEN CRASHED IN UNCTLD DSCNTS. THE CTLR WAS OCCUPIED WITH CTLG 2 OTR ACFT. BOTH WERE OPERG UNDER IFR & REQUIRED HIS ATTN TO MAINT SEPN. THE COLLISION OCCURRED AS THE CTLR WAS CONCENTRATING ON SEPN OF THE 2 IFR ACFT. N9750Y CONVERGED ON N42695 FROM THE NE (APRX70 DEG LEFT OF N42695'S NOSE). N42695 CONVERGED ON N9750Y FM THE SW (APRX 48 DEG RGT OF N9750Y'S NOSE). THE CTLR WAS NOTAWARE OF THE COLLISION UNTIL LATER. THE STOCKTON ARTS II RADAR WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A CONFLICT ALERT SYS. THE ARTS II RADAR WAS PROGRAMMED TO MOVE NO BEACON (VFR) CALL SIGNS TO THE TAB LIST AFTER NOT RCVG A TRANSPONDER REPLY FOR 5 SCANS (APRX 20 SEC). AFTER AN ADNL 33 SCANS (A TOTAL OF APRX 2.5 MIN), THE CALL SIGN WOULD DISAPPEAR FM THE TAB LIST, AS WELL.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY BOTH PILOTS, WHICH RESULTED IN THEIR FAILURE TO SEE-AND-AVOID EACH OTHER'S AIRCRAFT. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE LACK OF A CONFLICT ALERT SYSTEM FOR THE STOCKTON ARTS II RADAR.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/24/1989
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 927
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City TRACY
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95376
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator Yes
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport TRACY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 036
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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 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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 1892
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 24 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1010
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 40980
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:58PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N42695 N9750Y
NTSB Number LAX89FA287A LAX89FA287B
Missing Aircraft Indicator N N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? -- --
Damage Destroyed Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None Ground
Aircraft Explosion None Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA BEECH
Aircraft Model 180J 95-A55
Aircraft Series Identifier 180J 95-A55
Aircraft Serial Number 18052370 TC-431
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800 4880
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4 4
Number of Engines 1 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown Annual
Date of Last Inspection -- Aug 3 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection -- 18
Airframe Hours -- 1417
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No No
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name LBF EQUIPMENT CO. SAMUEL J. PERRY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 71 CAPILAND DR. 82155 MILLER ST.
Aircraft Owner City NOVATO SANTA MARIA
Aircraft Owner State CA CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94947
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown 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 Personal
Second Pilot on Board No No
Departure Point Same as Event No No
Departure Airport Code SAC
Departure City SAN RAFAEL SACRAMENTO
Departure State CA CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 900 0
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt -- --
Destination Airport Code FAT SMX
Destination City FRESNO SANTA MARIA
Destination State CA CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo dbo
Since inspection or accident -- --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0 0
Runway Length -- --
Runway Width -- --
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --