Sacramento Mather Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mather, California 95655
Thursday, January 23, 2003 20:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with obstructions following a loss of power in one engine during a missed approach. Following the collision sequence the airplane came to rest upright about 500 feet from the approach end of the runway and was destroyed in a post-impact ground fire. The pilot told a responding sheriff's deputy and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that he made the ILS approach to land and initiated a missed approach. When he added power, the left engine sputtered and the airplane veered to the left. He activated the fuel boost pump, but the airplane contacted obstructions and crashed. The responding sheriff's deputy also observed the accident. He heard an engine of an airplane making unusual sounds. The engine "seemed to get quiet and then revved higher as if to climb." He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a series of blue flashes and then an orange fireball. The deputy reported that there was a dense fog in the area at the time. At the time of the accident, the airport's weather conditions were reported as 100 feet overcast and 1/4-mile visibility in fog. The landing minimums for the ILS approach are 200 feet and 1/2-mile. According to the operator's records, when the airplane departed from Ukiah, its gross takeoff weight was about 5,909 pounds. The pilot operating handbook (POH) for the airplane lists the following items in the single engine go around checklist: 1) Throttle full forward; 2) wing flaps up; 3) when positive climb rate achieved, gear up; 4) ensure the inoperative engine is feathered. For a gross weight of 5,900 pounds, and the existing atmospheric conditions, the single engine climb performance chart shows an expected positive rate of climb of 500 feet per minute if the airplane was configured correctly. The chart also lists the following subtractions from that performance for the listed condition: 1) -400 fpm for wind milling inoperative engine; 2) -350 feet for landing gear down; 3) -200 fpm for flaps extended to 15 degrees. Examination of the wreckage disclosed that neither engine's propeller was feathered, the landing gear was down and the flaps were extended to 10 degrees. Without the airplane configured correctly for the single engine missed approach, the net climb performance would be a negative 400 feet per minute. There were no discrepancies noted with the airframe examination. The engine examination revealed no mechanical anomalies with either engine that would have precluded normal operation. 14 CFR 135.224 states that a pilot cannot initiate an approach if the weather conditions are below landing minimums if the approach is started outside of the final approach fix. The pilot can continue the landing if they are already established on the approach and the airport goes below landing minimums. According to the operator's FAA approved operating specifications, the operator had not been approved for lower than standard landing minimums.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

loss of engine power in the left engine for undetermined reasons. Also causal was the pilot's failure to correctly configure the airplane for a single engine missed approach, which resulted in a negative climb performance. A factor was the pilot's decision to initiate the approach when the weather conditions were below the published approach minimums.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/23/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2030
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Mather
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95655
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383340N
Event Location Longitude 1211600W
Event Location Airport Sacramento Mather
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MHR
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 96
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2030 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID MHR
Elevation of weather observation facility 96
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
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) 30.23
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) 20355
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 23 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2006 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6814A
NTSB Number LAX03FA073
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 402C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 402C0645
Certified Max Gross Weight 6850
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 70.5
Airframe Hours 13817.5
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name REDDING AERO ENTERPRISES, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3775 FLIGHT AVE
Aircraft Owner City REDDING
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96002
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 MNVA
Owner has at least one certificate --
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code UKI
Departure City UKIAH
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2000
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code MHR
Destination City MATHER
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Missed approach (IFR)
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2006 4:45PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 22L
Runway Length 11301
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --