Riverside Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Riverside, California 92501
Saturday, May 5, 2001 14:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On the landing rollout, the airplane veered to the right, departed the runway, and collided with a ditch. The purpose of the flight was to conduct three takeoffs and landings for currency. The accident landing was the first landing of the day. On the landing rollout the airplane went to the left and the pilot corrected back to runway centerline. The airplane then moved to the right of centerline. The pilot attempted to correct back to runway centerline with left rudder input and then left brake; however, the airplane continued to the right and into a ditch. A postaccident examination of the nose wheel and steering assembly revealed excessive play or wear that may have reduced steering control.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll. A factor was the worn nose wheel steering assembly.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/5/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1450
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Riverside
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92501
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 335711N
Event Location Longitude 1172600W
Event Location Airport RIVERSIDE MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RAL
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 818
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID RAL
Elevation of weather observation facility 818
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11335
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 5 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 23 2002 7:13AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1159J
NTSB Number LAX01LA173
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 Aero Commander
Aircraft Model 112A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 159
Certified Max Gross Weight 2650
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 1451
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jack L. Frye
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Yorba Linda
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92886
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code RAL
Departure City Riverside
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code RAL
Destination City Riverside
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 4 2002 3:24PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 5401
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --