Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Groveland, California 95310
Monday, January 14, 2002 14:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with a vehicle while attempting to make a precautionary landing on a highway. When the pilot arrived in the destination area he was confronted with a low stratus cloud condition. He diverted to another airport and landed. He contacted an operator at the destination, who told him that there were visual flight operations there with cloud bases about 1,500 to 2,000 feet. He departed the diversionary airport and proceeded towards his destination. Unable to descend through or maneuver around the stratus, he returned to the original diversionary airport, which was now covered by the stratus deck, as were other local airports. Realizing he was now too low on fuel to reach an airport in visual conditions, he contacted Oakland Air Traffic Control Center and requested assistance. The center provided vectors towards airports, but due to the weather conditions, the pilot was unable to find the airports. The consensus was to land the airplane as soon as possible and before fuel exhaustion. The pilot spotted a forestry camp with a windsock near a highway. He was successful in landing on the highway; however, the highway had a curve that prevented him from seeing an on-coming vehicle. He attempted to avoid the vehicle but the wing tip clipped it, causing him to lose control and collide with trees.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper preflight planning and improper weather evaluation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/14/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Groveland |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95310 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360923N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191934W |
| Event Location Airport | None |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Abbreviated |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SCK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14945 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 14 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FRESNO, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3624R |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA066 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-5721 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 17 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 6030 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jaybird Air LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Incline Village |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89450 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jeremy A. Wood |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | Q68 |
| Departure City | Pine Mountain |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TLR |
| Destination City | Tulare |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2003 5:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |