Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ballard, California 93441
Tuesady, May 22, 1984 11:20 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT OF N73857, A CESSNA 172 AND THE PILOT OF N521ST, A CESSNA 305 ARRANGED PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT TO FLY A 'MISSING MAN' FORMATION WITH TWO OTHER AIRCRAFT. THE PLT OF N73857 WAS INSTRUCTED TO FLY TO THE LEFT REAR OF THE LEAD ACFT, N521ST. THE PILOT OF N521ST REPORTED THAT HE OBSERVED N73857 OVERTAKE HIS AIRCRAFT FROM HIS LEFT REAR, BUT WAS UNABLE TO MANEUVER HIS AIRCRAFT AWAY FAST ENOUGH TO AVOID THE COLLISION. THE PLT OF N521ST STATED THAT HIS WAS THE LEADING AIRCRAFT AND THE OTHER PILOT IN N73857 WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING HIS REARWARD POSITION.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/22/1984
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1120
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BALLARD
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93441
Event Date Year 1984
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator Yes
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 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 1120
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) 15
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 Unknown
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 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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1992
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 25897
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 9:15AM
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 N73857 N521ST
NTSB Number LAX84LA313A LAX84LA313B
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 Minor Substantial
Aircraft Fire None Unknown
Aircraft Explosion None Unknown
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172N 305C
Aircraft Series Identifier 172N 305C
Aircraft Serial Number 17267725
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300 2400
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 2
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown Unknown
Date of Last Inspection -- --
Airframe hours since last inspection -- --
Airframe Hours 1200 --
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated No No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No No
ELT Type -- --
Aircraft Owner Name BUCKLAND SNOW & ZIMMERMAN, INC JOHN G. ROBERTS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3940 MITCHELL RD 455 MOUNTAIN DR.
Aircraft Owner City SANTA MARIA SANTA BARBARA
Aircraft Owner State CA CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93456 93103
Operator is an individual? -- --
Operator Name JOHN G ROBERTS
Operator Same as Owner? Yes No
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes No
Operator Street Address 455 MOUNTAIN DR
Operator City SANTA BARBARA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 93103
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder Yes - certificate holder
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 1ZA IZA
Departure City SANTA YNEZ SANTA YNEZ
Departure State CA CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1100 0
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere --
Destination Airport Code SMX SBA
Destination City SANTA MARIA SANTA BARBARA
Destination State CA CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:36AM Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
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 -- --