Pine Mountain Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Groveland, California 95321
Thursday, December 13, 2001 17:55 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the pilot's dark nighttime landing flare on runway 09 at the uncontrolled airport, an unobserved deer crossed the active runway in front of the approaching airplane. The airplane's undercarriage impacted the deer, and the landing gear collapsed. Thereafter, the pilot lost control of the airplane as it veered off the runway coming to rest oriented 180 degrees from the landing direction. The Federal Aviation Administration's "Airport/Facility Directory" contained the following remark for the airport: "Be alert deer on and in vicinity of arpt...."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's collision with an unobserved animal that entered the active runway during the dark nighttime when the pilot's visibility was diminished.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/13/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1755
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Groveland
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95321
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 375142N
Event Location Longitude 1201040W
Event Location Airport Pine Mountain Lake
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Q68
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 2930
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID MOD
Elevation of weather observation facility 97
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 39
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.16
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KMOD 140153Z 00000KT 4SM HZ CLR 09/04 A3016 RMK AO
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12423
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Dec 13 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 23 2002 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO Fresno, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4328B
NTSB Number LAX02LA048
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32R-301T
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 32R-8429003
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Sep 6 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27
Airframe Hours 3808
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TAT Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2711 Centerville Rd., Ste. 120
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19808
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Silvano Gai
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City San Jose
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95132
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SJC
Departure City San Jose
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code Q68
Destination City Groveland
Destination State A
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2002 5:20PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 09
Runway Length 3625
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --