Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gardena, California 90745
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 21:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of an airship was attempting to land with the assistance of his ground crew. The pilot acknowledged that the airship was "very light" during the attempted landing, and he had made and aborted two previous landing attempts. On the third and final landing approach, the forward ballonet was "loaded" to facilitate the ground crew's reaching the airship's bowlines. Approaching the landing site, the pilot used a combination of engine power, reverse power, and elevator control to maneuver. During this procedure the ground crew attempted to pull the nose of the airship down in order to add ballast to the airship. However, during this process the ground crew's position gave way as engine power was increased by the pilot in an effort at lowering the nose of the airship. The ground crew followed the airship as it moved away from the chosen landing site area. Eventually, as the available clearance between the airship and obstacles on the ground decreased, the ground crew directed the pilot to abort the attempted landing. The pilot stated that he attempted to abort the landing, and "tried to allow for the [light] static condition of the ship" to increase its altitude, but "nothing happened...." The airship continued to move forward until it impacted a fence and a lumber pile. At the time, the local wind speed and direction was reported as being light and variable.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's delayed go-around during final approach to land, which resulted in an in-flight collision with a fence. A factor associated with the accident is the pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude/clearance from obstructions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/3/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Gardena |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90745 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335112N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181628W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2056 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 97 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 60 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KLGB 040456Z 00000KT 5SM BR CLR 13/13 A2999 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16994 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 3 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2255 |
| 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-FSDO Long Beach, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N10A |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA055 |
| 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 | Goodyear |
| Aircraft Model | GZ-20A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4117 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 13442 |
| Aircraft Category | Blimp |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 25 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 18181 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1144 E. Market Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Akron |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44316 |
| 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 | 19200 S. Main Street |
| Operator City | Gardena |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90248 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 64CL |
| Departure City | Gardena |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1748 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 64CL |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2004 7:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LABJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |