Cloverdale Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cloverdale, California 95425
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 16:40 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While attempting to land, the airplane impacted in a level attitude, about 10 feet short of the runway threshold. The airplane was landing to the southeast, using runway 14. Witnesses at the airport estimated that the winds were 15 knots gusting to 25 knots out of the northwest. A post impact fire destroyed the airplane. Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the airplane wreckage and found no evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision and selection of the wrong runway, and his inadequate compensation for the gusting tail wind conditions, which resulted in a stall/mush.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/9/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1640
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Cloverdale
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95425
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 384633N
Event Location Longitude 1225933W
Event Location Airport CLOVERDALE MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O60
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 278
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 25
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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) 19543
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 9 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1702
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2006 11:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP FSDO Oakland, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N621BP
NTSB Number LAX04LA235
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Harold W Bruce
Aircraft Model RV-6
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0001
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Harold William Bruce
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Sebastopol
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95472
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 --
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 O31
Departure City HEALDSBURG
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1630
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code O60
Destination City CLOVERDALE
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 7 2006 4:09PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 14
Runway Length 2707
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --