Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bermuda Dunes Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palm Springs, California 92201
Sunday, October 28, 2007 17:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student were on a local instructional flight that included touch-and-go landings in the vicinity of the uncontrolled airport. The airplane took off to the west, returned, and performed a touch-and-go in the opposite direction, then made two sharp 90-degree turns to line up with the western runway again. The airplane did a touch-and-go, and appeared to climb at a very steep angle. Witnesses indicated that it appeared to be fully silhouetted in plan view against the sky when viewed from behind. The airplane subsequently turned to the right and dropped to the ground. The student pilot survived the accident, and said he was instructed by the CFI to fly down the runway just high enough so that the wheels would not touch. The student then pulled up to the appropriate takeoff attitude, but most likely failed to apply takeoff power, and the CFI failed to respond to the situation before the airplane was in a nose high, stalled condition in which there was not sufficient altitude to recover safely. The CFI's postmortem blood ethanol level was 0.31%, a level that would render a nontolerant individual unconscious, or nearly so. This level of tolerance suggests a minimum period of weeks or months of sustained increased alcohol intake, rather than a single binge event, particularly given that witnesses saw the instructor consume alcohol before the flight, a prior DUI conviction, and the liver cirrhosis found during the autopsy. The CFI's judgment and performance were undoubtedly impaired by alcohol. The CFI had reported to the FAA his prior DUI, but the FAA did not request details, nor require an additional substance dependence evaluation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall during takeoff-initial climb, and his impairment from alcohol.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/28/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Palm Springs |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92201 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334506N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1161658W |
| Event Location Airport | Bermuda Dunes Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KUDD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 73 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1800 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KUDD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 73 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 135 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23587 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 28 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Riverside FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N21101 |
| NTSB Number | LAX08FA023 |
| 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 | 172S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172S9611 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 162.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lewis Webb |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Palm Desert |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92211 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | On file |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | Palm Desert |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92211 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KUDD |
| Departure City | Bermuda Dunes |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 2:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 5002 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |