Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Thermal, California 92274
Monday, January 3, 2005 9:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane encountered muddy terrain and collapsed the nose landing gear during a landing overrun. The pilot reported that as he approached his destination he prepared for an instrument approach to the airport. The pilot descended via the approach to an altitude of about 800 feet, at which point he was able to identify the runway environment and transition to a visual approach. Throughout the approach, the pilot reported encountering moderate rain and restricted visibility. The airplane's speed during the approach was about 120 knots, varying slightly with configuration changes required during descents and transitions to level flight. During landing, the airplane touched down hard, about halfway down the 4,995-foot-long runway, and bounced twice. The pilot reported that once established in the landing rollout, he applied full brakes and configured the propellers in full reverse thrust, attempting to stop before the end of the runway. The pilot said that although the runway was absent of noticeable standing water, the moderate rain and wet conditions hindered braking effectiveness. The airplane continued off the runway and impacted terrain resulting in the collapse of the nose gear. The pilot was unable to remember the speed at which the airplane touched, but opined that it was about 100 knots, the normal touchdown speed for the airplane. The Airplane Flying Handbook states that "hydroplaning can have serious adverse effects on ground controllability and braking efficiency" and recommends that "touchdown speed should be as slow as possible consistent with safety."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's misjudged speed and distance, which resulted in a failure to attain the proper touchdown point and a subsequent overrun of the runway. A factor in the accident was limited braking effectiveness resulting from the wet runway condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/3/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Thermal |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92274 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333736N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1160935W |
| Event Location Airport | Jacqueline Cochran Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRM |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| 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 | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17593 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| 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 | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N441CX |
| NTSB Number | LAX05CA059 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 441 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 441-305 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| 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 | Western Slope Auto Co. Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grand Junction |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | GJT |
| Departure City | Grand Juncition |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TRM |
| Destination City | Thermal |
| 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 | 30 |
| Runway Length | 4995 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |