Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ocean Ridge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gualala, California 95445
Sunday, April 13, 2008 13:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airport manager said the airplane began its takeoff on the 2,500-foot-long runway 13 from the displaced threshold, which is 400 feet from the approach end of the runway. The pilot said he rotated at 55 knots and the airplane lifted off the runway but would not climb. Almost immediately, the stall warning horn began to sound and he lowered the nose to gain speed. The airplane then settled back onto the runway. The pilot reduced the power and began applying brakes to abort the takeoff. The airplane overran the end of the runway, went down a hillside, and collided with trees about 600 feet from the runway. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision not to use all of the available runway, his premature rotation and failure to obtain and maintain an adequate airspeed to continue the takeoff that resulted in a stall/mush, an aborted takeoff, a runway overrun, and a collision with trees. Contributing to the accident was the short runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/13/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gualala |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95445 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384805N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1233150W |
| Event Location Airport | Ocean Ridge Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E55 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 940 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 85 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23612 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 13 2008 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 | WP-FSDO-OAK |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N21705 |
| NTSB Number | LAX08CA102 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172S9699 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1638 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DSM Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | West Valley Flying Club |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Palo Alto |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94303 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Gualala |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAO |
| Destination City | Palo Alto |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 6 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |