Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Weed, California 96094
Thursday, June 19, 2003 11:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted trees while in cruise flight, and then landed uneventfully. The pilot said that during cruise flight he was distracted and looked down. When he looked up, he was in the clouds. He heard a loud "thump or bang" and immediately entered a climb. The pilot then made a planned fuel stop and discovered that the right wing leading edge was crushed, the bottom of the right wing was punctured, and the leading edge of the right stabilizer was slightly crushed. Post accident examination revealed crushing along the leading edges of the right wing and right ruddervator. A reddish brown coloration was present at the crush points. Portions of organic material, similar to trees or brush, were found lodged within the crush folds in the right wing. The METAR observations for an airport 15 miles north of the reported collision point were noting clear skies and unrestricted visibilities for 2 hours before and after the reported time of the event.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain/object clearance altitude.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/19/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Weed
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96094
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 412849N
Event Location Longitude 1222718W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KSIY
Elevation of weather observation facility 2648
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.83
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16948
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 25 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
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-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5828S
NTSB Number LAX03LA210
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 Beech
Aircraft Model S35
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number D7727
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6169.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LRG LP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1451 E CHAPMAN AVE
Aircraft Owner City Fullerton
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92831
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Adolph Zwick
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City ANAHEIM
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92807
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 KMFD
Departure City Medford
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 945
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KFUL
Destination City Fullerton
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 Nov 6 2004 2:45PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --