Ruth Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ruth, California 95526
Wednesday, August 28, 2002 18:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane veered off the runway and nosed over after encountering a 35-knot wind gust during landing rollout. According to the pilot, upon entering the airport's traffic pattern he noted the surface wind was nearly calm. Nothing unusual occurred during his approach to the runway. After touchdown the airplane encountered the wind gust, which lifted the tail. The pilot could not regain control and the airplane veered off the runway and nosed over. The pilot did not indicate that he had experienced any mechanical problem with his airplane. The pilot had flown the model of accident airplane for about 500 hours, including 6 hours during the preceding 90-day period.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/28/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Ruth
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95526
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401241N
Event Location Longitude 1231751W
Event Location Airport Ruth
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Q95
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 2781
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1756 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 158
Weather Observation Facility ID UKI
Elevation of weather observation facility 614
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 65
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.74
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16348
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 28 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1833
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Sacramento, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3607Z
NTSB Number LAX02LA265
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-22-160
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 22-7495
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 Oct 26 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 1200
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Don A. Borden
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Ruth
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95526
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Ruth
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95526
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 OAK
Departure City Oakland
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1710
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code Q95
Destination City Ruth
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 2 2004 3:54PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 13
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --