Beatty Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Beatty, Nevada 89003
Friday, September 21, 2007 19:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot and passenger were on a cross-country flight. After night had fallen, they encountered deteriorating weather conditions, and diverted to an airport along their route of flight. During the final approach leg of the traffic pattern, the airplane entered an excessive descent rate, and the pilot initiated a go-around. As the pilot turned the airplane onto the downwind leg, the left wing impacted the ground. The pilot operating handbook for the airplane indicates that once a positive rate of climb is established, the landing gear should be retracted, as well as incremental flap retraction. Although the pilot believed that he retracted the flaps and landing gear, the cockpit selectors were both found in the extended position. The pilot had approximately 8 hours total night flight time, with 0.8-hour in the 30 days prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow the manufacturer's procedures during a go-around and subsequent loss of airplane control. A contributing factor to the accident was the dark night.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/21/2007
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1930
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Beatty
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89003
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 365224N
Event Location Longitude 1164725W
Event Location Airport Beatty Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BTY
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 3170
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID KDRA
Elevation of weather observation facility 3314
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 39
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 4500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
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) 29.99
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 2
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22949
NTSB Notification Source FAA AWP Ops Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 21 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 30 2008 4:08PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAS-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N203AB
NTSB Number SEA07LA270
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 SOCATA
Aircraft Model TB20
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2211
Certified Max Gross Weight 3086
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 144
Airframe Hours 386
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Benjamin Barnes
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Belvedere
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94920
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 LOL
Departure City Lovelock
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HND
Destination City Henderson
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Go-around (VFR)
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 7 2008 3:21PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 5600
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --