Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rosamond Skypark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rosamond, California 93560
Thursday, May 31, 2007 19:29 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During takeoff, the airplane collided with terrain off the end of the runway. The pilot reported that the run up checks were all acceptable. When the airplane was approximately 1,200 feet down the 3,600-foot runway, it lifted 5 feet above the runway but would not climb. The airplane drifted to the right while the pilot was checking the control settings and the pilot noted that the airplane was nearing the end of the runway. The pilot applied additional backpressure on the yoke and climbed to 15 feet above ground level. The airplane cleared the fence and then settled in the soft, sandy soil. As the airplane touched down, the right main landing gear dug into the soft sand and the airplane was jerked to the right, suddenly stopping. The pilot reported that he did not notice any change in engine sound during the takeoff. The estimated weight of the airplane was 100 pounds below its maximum gross weight. The density altitude at the time of the accident was about 4,000 feet mean sea level.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to abort the takeoff due to lack of airplane climb performance, which resulted in a collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1929 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rosamond |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93560 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345214N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181233W |
| Event Location Airport | Rosamond Skypark Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LOO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2415 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1956 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2351 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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) | 22562 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Ops Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 31 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5231L |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA141 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-4525 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Jan 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 5968 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Glenn Whetzel |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Corona |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91719 |
| 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 | L00 |
| Departure City | Rosamond |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1925 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AJO |
| Destination City | Corona |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2007 10:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 3600 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |