Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ventura, California 93001
Saturday, January 17, 2009 12:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot of the amateur-built airplane, while he was cruising about 500 feet above the Pacific Ocean, the airplane's control stick appeared to be bound-up and the plane was banking to the left. He put his airplane in the water about 600 feet from the coastline and he and his passenger were rescued by a person on a jet ski. The pilot recovered his airplane from the water and he examined it; the stick and aileron cables appeared to be normal, and he did not observe any evidence of a flight control problem. The pilot did not indicate that there was any malfunction with the engine, propeller, or accessories. A Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector examined the airplane wreckage and confirmed flight control continuity without any evidence of control binding. The pilot made a statement to a responding sheriff's deputy that he had been flying with his passenger at an altitude between 200 and 300 feet above the water, and about 100 yards from the shore, when the engine began to lose power. The pilot stated that he turned his airplane toward the shore and began to look for a safe place to land when suddenly something broke off. The airplane began to lose altitude and, unable to reach the shore, the airplane crashed into the ocean. The pilot's passenger was also interviewed by the deputy and estimated that the pilot had been flying between 100 and 200 feet above the ocean just prior to the impact. The deputy also interviewed a witness who was located at a beachside camp site who observed the airplane flying between 20 and 50 feet above the ocean just prior to it turning left and impacting the water. A Safety Board investigator interviewed a witness who was also located at a beach camp site. The witness provided a drawing depicting the accident airplane's flight path, crash site, and the locations of bystanders. The witness reported that prior to the crash he had observed the airplane flying straight and level in a southerly direction about 20 feet above the water, 100 yards from the beach, and approximately 50 yards (horizontally) from surfers. The witness stated that "when the plane turned toward the beach...the left wing clipped the water" about 100 yards horizontally from the witness.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the water.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/17/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Ventura |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93001 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341909n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191949w |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | PST |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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) | 25033 |
| NTSB Notification Source | AWP-6 Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 13 2009 4:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6976C |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | QUICKSILVER |
| Aircraft Model | SPORT 2S R582 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0024 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 190 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARTINEZ RICK JOHN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CAMARILLO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93010-7852 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | MARTINEZ RICK JOHN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Camarillo |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93010 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | CMA |
| Departure City | Camarillo |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CMA |
| Destination City | Camarillo |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 13 2009 4:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |