Santa Barbara Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Barbara, California 93117
Monday, December 13, 2004 13:28 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During landing rollout, the pilot lost directional control of his conventional gear airplane, and it ground looped. The pilot was aware that upon landing on runway 25 the local wind was variable at 6 knots. The pilot's touchdown was normal, but during rollout he lost directional control when a crosswind gust was encountered.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions and failure to maintain directional control during landing rollout, which resulted in a ground loop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/13/2004
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1328
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Santa Barbara
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93117
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 342534N
Event Location Longitude 1195025W
Event Location Airport Santa Barbara Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SBA
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 Docket Number (internal use) 17332
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 13 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1350
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 24 2005 9:13AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO Van Nuys, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N95JD
NTSB Number LAX05CA052
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Classic Aircraft Corp.
Aircraft Model Waco YMF
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number F5C-058
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joseph J. Ryan
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Eagle
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81631
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SQL
Departure City San Carlos
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SBA
Destination City Santa Barbara
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 6052
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --