Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
General Wm J Fox Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Hughes, California 93532
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 13:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to flight, the pilot checked the weather and also received a weather briefing from a Flight Service Station. The briefing revealed high winds and mountain obscuration along his route of flight. In order to avoid the adverse weather, the pilot departed on a westerly heading and climbed to 12,500 feet rather than his usual altitude of 8,500 feet, on a northwesterly heading across mountainous terrain. Thirty minutes into the flight he encountered strong downdrafts and wind shear on the lee side of the mountains. He applied full power, and initiated a 180-degree turn but was unable to maintain altitude. The airplane descended into a cloud layer, and continued to experience severe turbulence; the airplane subsequently stalled and entered a spin. The pilot recovered from the spin momentarily, before the airplane again stalled and entered a second spin. The airplane then exited the clouds at approximately 500 feet agl. The pilot then force landed the airplane into rising terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation and attempted flight into known adverse weather during cruise, and his failure to maintain an adequate airspeed margin that resulted in a stall/spin. Turbulence was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Lake Hughes |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93532 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344507N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1183882W |
| Event Location Airport | GENERAL WM J FOX AIRFIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WJF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 24 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2351 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1256 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 92 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2351 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 27 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 31 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23138 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 27 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Van Nuys, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4598S |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA065 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-761 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 3370 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert N. Ryan |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chico |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95928 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | WJF |
| Departure City | LANCASTER |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CIC |
| Destination City | CHICO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2008 5:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 7201 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |