Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palos Verdes, California 90274
Saturday, February 3, 2007 15:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
N30140 and a PT-17 departed the local airport to the south and established radio communication with each other. For approximately 15 minutes, the two airplanes flew independently of each other. During that time, the pilot of N30140 heard over the radio frequency two other pilots that were operating in the area, and the pilot did not see either of the two aircraft. One of those two aircraft was N49270. N30140 and the other PT-17 had then decided to return to the airport. N30140 began to regroup with the PT-17 at an altitude of 3,000 feet mean sea level (msl). Approximately 1,000 feet from the PT-17, the pilot of N30140 felt "a hard impact on my aircraft." The airplane rolled more than 90 degrees to the right in a steep descent. The pilot thought another aircraft struck his; however, he did not see another aircraft. The pilot regained partial control of the airplane and executed a forced landing. During the landing, the airplane stalled approximately 35 feet above the terrain, impacted the terrain, and nosed over. N49270 also departed the same local airport to the south and climbed to 3,000 feet msl. Approximately 20 minutes into the flight, he observed N30140 and another PT-17 coming toward him, and they were not in formation. The two airplanes were flying northwest (N49270 was flying south) and N30140 was a "few hundred feet lower." N49270 and the other PT-17 confirmed visual contact with each other over the radio. N49270 and the other PT-17 intended on joining in formation. With about 1/2 mile separation between the two PT-17s, N30140 crossed under N49270. N49270 then joined up with the other PT-17 and "stabilized on [other PT-17] left wing in the step-up position and headed easterly." Approximately 1 minute later, the pilot of N49270 felt a bump and noticed N30140 was slightly to the left and below his airplane. The pilot of N49270 realized that his propeller contacted the tail section of N30140. N49270 landed uneventfully at the airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of both pilots to maintain adequate visual lookout and clearance from each other while maneuvering in close proximity.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/3/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Palos Verdes |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90274 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182400W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23755 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Long Beach, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N30140 | N49270 |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA079A | LAX07LA079B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Waco | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | UPF-7 | A75N1(PT17) |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5537 | 75-336 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 | 2950 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM | Jan 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 6130.5 | 4000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | Yes | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ralph A. Baxter | Harrison H. Haggard |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rolling Hills | Palos Verdes |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90274 | 90274 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | -- | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | -- | -- |
| Operator State | -- | -- |
| Operator Country | -- | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TOA | TOA |
| Departure City | TORRANCE | TORRANCE |
| Departure State | CA | CA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Destination City | -- | -- |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | -- | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Other |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2008 5:35PM | Jun 5 2008 5:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA | NA |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |