Twentynine Palms Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Twentynine Palm, California 92277
Thursday, May 1, 2003 14:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the landing rollout the airplane encountered a gust of wind and nosed over. The pilot stated that approaching the airport he had received the local weather information from the airport's Unicom, which indicated the wind was from 320 degrees, at 12 knots, with occasional 28-knot gusts. The pilot made a straight-in approach and touched down without incident on runway 26. During the rollout, a wind gust was encountered. The pilot indicated that despite his efforts at maintaining airplane control, he lost control and the airplane nosed over on the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation and his failure to maintain aircraft control. The gusty wind condition was a contributing factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/1/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Twentynine Palm
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92277
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 340756N
Event Location Longitude 1155645W
Event Location Airport Twentynine Palms
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TNP
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 1905
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1455 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 295
Weather Observation Facility ID NXP
Elevation of weather observation facility 2055
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16555
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 1 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1615
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2004 10:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO Riverside, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1607D
NTSB Number LAX03LA146
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 170A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 20249
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
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 May 14 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 14
Airframe Hours 2515
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Phil E. Neff
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Scottsdale
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85259
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Alvin Couturier
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 TSP
Departure City Tehachapi
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1250
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TNP
Destination City Twentynine Palm
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 Sep 11 2004 1:32PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 5531
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --