Calaveras County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Andreas, California 95249
Thursday, September 1, 2005 16:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane encountered a dust devil during the takeoff ground roll, then it veered off the runway, and collided with a berm. About 600 feet into the takeoff ground roll the airplane veered to the left and continued in that direction even with the pilot's counteractive control input. During the event, the pilot reduced the power, the right main landing gear sheared off, and the airplane came to rest on the right wing and horizontal stabilizer. Witnesses informed the pilot that they observed a dust devil approach the airplane during takeoff roll. The pilot reported experiencing no anomalies with the airframe or engine prior to the event.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane upon encountering a dust devil during the takeoff roll.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/1/2005
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1615
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City San Andreas
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95249
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 380846N
Event Location Longitude 1203853W
Event Location Airport Calaveras County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CPU
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 1320
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 SCK
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) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.79
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18819
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 1 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2005 6:27AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Sacramento, California

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1644M
NTSB Number LAX05CA287
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model A185E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18501847
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Skyline Holdings, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Casey M. Long
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 5200 Newfound Lane
Operator City Angels Camp
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95222
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code CPU
Departure City San Andreas
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1615
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - roll/run
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2005 5:19PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 3603
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --