Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gillespie Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
El Cajon, California 92020
Saturday, May 9, 2009 15:38 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight school's operations manager reported that the pilot was previously checked out in the accident model of airplane, and he was authorized to rent the airplane. On the day of the accident flight, the pilot and passenger departed for a planned local area flight to a neighboring airport. Air traffic control tower personnel reported that the pilot's landing approach to Runway 27L was uneventful. During the landing roll out, the airplane veered to the left of the runway. The pilot applied rudder pressure to correct the airplane's course, and the airplane veered to the right. The airplane departed the runway and contacted a 6-foot drainage ditch. The conventional landing gear sheared off, a wing lift strut bent, a wing impacted the ground, and structural tube frames/longerons in the airplane's belly were deformed upward. The pilot did not report experiencing any mechanical malfunction with the airplane during the accident flight. He stated that during the landing he had encountered a wind gust, which blew the airplane to the side of the runway. In taking corrective action to realign the airplane, he "reacted...too much." At 1539, the airport reported its surface wind was from 240 degrees at 10 knots, with 15-knot gusts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing with gusting crosswinds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1538 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | El Cajon |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92020 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 324934N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1165821W |
| Event Location Airport | Gillespie Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEE |
| 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 | 388 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1539 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 388 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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) | 25592 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WP FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 17 2009 5:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3370E |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA280 |
| 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 | AERONCA |
| Aircraft Model | 7AC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7AC-6778 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 18 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 99 |
| Airframe Hours | 11401 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FIRST FLIGHT CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6810 CURRAN ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92154-5710 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FIRST FLIGHT CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 6810 CURRAN ST |
| Operator City | SAN DIEGO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92154-5710 |
| 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 | SDM |
| Departure City | San Diego |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1519 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SEE |
| Destination City | El Cajon |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 17 2009 5:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27L |
| Runway Length | 2738 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |