Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sonoma County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Geyserville, California 95441
Wednesday, November 9, 2005 18:34 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After visually identifying his home base airport on a night VFR approach, the pilot initiated a descent and the airplane struck the top of a ridgeline at the 2,834-foot level. The pilot was en route home from a trip between two airports that he made often. He had been receiving VFR flight following services from ARTCC and had cancelled when he reported the airport in sight. Recorded radar data showed the airplane descending from its cruise altitude in a straight line toward the airport and the accident site. Investigators identified two marks along the ridgeline that were similar in dimension to the distance between the main landing gear on the airplane. The airframe and engine examinations revealed no preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Two drug substances were found in toxicological tests of the pilot's specimens, Diphenhydramine and Cetirizine. Diphenhydramine was found at a level that indicates usage within the past 8 hours of the accident flight. The Cetirizine that was found in the urine, but not the blood, and indicated that the pilot more than likely ingested the drug within the previous 48 hours, but not within the previous 12 hours of the accident. Diphenhydramine can result in drowsiness, and has measurable effects on performance of cognitive and motor tasks. Studies have shown that individuals' performance of tasks has been degraded even though they feel normal after ingesting the drug; however, in this case it is unclear the extent to which the pilot may have been sedated and/or impaired. Studies of individuals taking Cetirizine have not found any significant impairment from the medication.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain clearance altitude profile during the descent that resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/9/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1834 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Geyserville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95441 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384420N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1224906W |
| Event Location Airport | SONOMA COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | STS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 125 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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) | 22055 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 10 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-OAK-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9204Q |
| NTSB Number | LAX06FA031 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | F33A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CE-341 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 3810 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Fred A. Zanotta |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Santa Rosa |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95402 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | O85 |
| Departure City | Redding |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | STS |
| Destination City | Santa Rosa |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 4 2007 11:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |