Little River Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Little River, California 95456
Sunday, May 25, 2003 22:40 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane took off, flew out over the ocean, and dropped off radar. The pilot was flying from his home to his place of business. A friend called the pilot's office the next morning and was told that the pilot had not come into work yet. The friend notified the FAA and an ALNOT was issued. The local Civil Air Patrol unit made several searches; however, they found no wreckage. The airplane and pilot remain missing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Aircraft is missing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/25/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 2240
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Little River
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95456
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391500N
Event Location Longitude 1234522W
Event Location Airport Little River
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O48
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 572
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2256 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 100
Weather Observation Facility ID UKI
Elevation of weather observation facility 614
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night
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) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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 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) 16884
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 26 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2004 12:45PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-OAK-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7555X
NTSB Number LAX03FAMS3
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17248055
Certified Max Gross Weight 2075
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 Nov 22 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2059
Airframe Hours 3326
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Mitchell Kirby
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Gualala
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95445
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Randy Hietala
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Rough and Ready
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95975
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code O48
Departure City LITTLE RIVER
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2235
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O17
Destination City GRASS VALLEY
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Unknown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 22 2004 3:29PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 5249
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --