Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Arcata Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arcata, California 95519
Sunday, March 1, 2009 23:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was executing an over-water instrument approach to Runway 14 on a dark night in an area of moderate to heavy precipitation and light to moderate turbulence. Based upon the airplane's descent profile, recorded radar data, local ocean currents, and the ultimate distribution of debris along the beach, the airplane impacted the ocean's surface about one-half mile offshore and about seven statute miles northwest of the Arcata Airport. In the forty-two hours immediately preceding the accident, the pilot had flown about twenty hours and forty-five minutes, and had crossed four time zones. There was no record of the pilot acquiring a weather briefing relating to his destination on the day of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain proper altitude and glidepath while executing a night instrument approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's fatigue.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/1/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2300 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Arcata |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95519 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410354N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1241011W |
| Event Location Airport | Arcata |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KACV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 221 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2253 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KACV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 200 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.69 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26109 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Dec 8 2009 10:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N521DS |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA146 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC |
| Aircraft Model | DA-40 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 40.621 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2535 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 17 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 652 |
| Airframe Hours | 652 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MITCHELL ENTERPRISES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4007 AIRPORT RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | PLANT CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33563-1134 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Mitchell Enterprizes Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4007 Airport Rd. |
| Operator City | Plant City |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33563 |
| 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 | KBFL |
| Departure City | Bakersfield |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1936 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KACV |
| Destination City | Arcata Airport |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 23 2009 4:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ricj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |