Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Arcata Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kneeland, California 95549
Tuesady, July 23, 2002 15:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed at an airport (elev. 2,737 feet msl), which was located 17.5 nm southeast of his destination airport, prior to proceeding to final destination. While at the forestry facility, the pilot contacted a fellow company pilot, who was located at the destination airport, for a report on the weather conditions. According to various weather reports, at the destination airport (elev. 218 feet msl) the cloud bases were at 1,100 feet agl and cloud tops at 3,000 feet agl. Shortly after departure from the airport, the pilot was cleared by air traffic control (ATC) for an ILS approach to the destination airport's runway 32. For unknown reasons, the pilot cancelled the approach and requested to hold at a fix until he could be cleared for another approach. Approximately 16 minutes later, the pilot was cleared for another ILS approach to runway 32. ATC instructed the pilot to cancel his IFR clearance after landing, the pilot acknowledged the request, and that was the last communication from the pilot to ATC. The airplane impacted several trees, came to rest inverted on a 45-degree sloped ridge, and was destroyed by a post-impact fire. Two separated sections of the left wing were located wrapped around near the tops of 125-foot trees. The wreckage energy path measured approximately 300-feet in length on a measured magnetic heading of 190 degrees. During examination of the wreckage, no aircraft or engine anomalies were noted that would have prevented normal operations.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with the trees while executing an instrument approach. Contributing factors were the clouds and obscuration weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kneeland |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95549 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404857N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1235927W |
| Event Location Airport | Arcata |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ACV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 11.1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 134 |
| Airport Elevation | 218 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 314 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ACV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 218 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 269 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13839 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP-6 |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2355 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oakland, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8801N |
| NTSB Number | LAX02FA234 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-25646 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 12 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James C. Wahleithner |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8749 Nipawin Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | Orangevale |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95662 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | O19 |
| Departure City | Kneeland |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ACV |
| Destination City | ARCATA/EUREKA |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 12 2003 11:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 5998 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |