Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Riverside Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Riverside, California 92501
Saturday, May 1, 2004 9:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane veered off the runway and impacted a ditch during the landing roll. The pilot had completed 10 three-point practice touch-and-go takeoff and landings without mishap, and was attempting his last landing of the day. During the landing roll, the airplane drifted off the centerline to the right. The pilot attempted to counteract the drift by applying left rudder pressure. The airplane continued to veer in a right arc off the side of the runway and encountered a ditch. The airplane impacted terrain, pushing the engine into the firewall and forcing the cockpit floor upward. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane prior to impact. Later, the pilot stated that the factors that he thought contributed to the accident were a quartering right tailwind, lack of left tail wheel steering, impeded rudder control, pilot error/lack of experience for not attempting to steer via the use of differential braking, and the presence of a ditch in close proximity to the runway. He reported that there was a 4-knot right quartering tailwind from 070 degrees. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane and found no evidence of a malfunction or failure with the brake, control, or ground steering systems. The accident flight was the pilot's first solo flight in the make and model, although he had previously accumulated about 140 hours in the same make and model.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control, resulting in a veer off the runway and collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/1/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 955 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Riverside |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92501 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335706N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1172642W |
| Event Location Airport | Riverside Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KRAL |
| 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 | 818 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 818 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2414 |
| 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) | 17590 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-RAL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N195AF |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA199 |
| 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 | 195 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7651 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| 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 | Dec 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 4800 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tandem Flight LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 527 Broadway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salem |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03079 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Frederick W. Murdock III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | Huntington Beach |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92648 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | RAL |
| Departure City | Riverside |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 745 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RAL |
| Destination City | Riverside |
| 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 | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5401 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |