Nut Tree Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Vacaville, California 95688
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 3:35 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane veered off the side of the runway and ground looped. The pilot flew 2.7 hours from Watsonville to Little River for fuel, and then to Ukiah where he and his family ate dinner and spent the night. They departed Ukiah at 0800, and flew to Brookings, Oregon, for fuel. They then flew to North Bend where they refueled and added oil to the airplane, ate lunch, and shopped. At 1400, they departed North Bend, flew up the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, and landed at Astoria, Oregon, for fuel and coffee. They departed Astoria and flew to Myrtle Creek, arriving there about 2015. The pilot's family exited the airplane, and he performed three full-stop solo landings for night currency. The family boarded and they proceeded to Crescent City, California, where the airplane was refueled. They departed Crescent City airport with full fuel and flew to the Nut Tree Airport, Vacaville, California. The Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) for Vacaville reported the winds to be calm, and the pilot landed on runway 20 without incident. The pilot refueled the airplane at idle power because he had experienced difficulty in starting the engine in Crescent City. He then taxied to runway 2 for takeoff. He raised the tail of the airplane at a lower airspeed than normal. The airplane yawed to the left and the pilot applied full right rudder. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway and bounced hard on a dirt berm. It spun around 180 degrees before coming to rest beside the runway. After exiting the airplane, the pilot noticed a steady 1- to 2-knot wind from 200 degrees. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. The wind conditions at Vacaville, at 0353, were reported to be from 200 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot flew a total of 17.4 hours in 2 days with little sleep. On the day of the accident, the pilot had been awake about 21 hours and had flown 15 hours.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control. A contributing factor was pilot fatigue.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/28/2006
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 335
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Vacaville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95688
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 382262N
Event Location Longitude 1215775W
Event Location Airport Nut Tree
Event Location Nearest Airport ID VCB
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 353 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID VCB
Elevation of weather observation facility 110
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night
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) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20441
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 Oct 3 2006 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration Sacramento FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2924D
NTSB Number LAX06CA219
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 170B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 26867
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 45
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Montery Bay Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Watsonville
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95076
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code VCV
Departure City Vacaville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 325
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code WVI
Destination City Watsonville
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 28 2006 6:07PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 2
Runway Length 4700
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --