Petaluma Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Petaluma, California 94954
Friday, June 19, 2009 19:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot encountered turbulence that continued to increase while entering the pattern for landing. On final approach, the pilot added power to counteract the turbulent wind condition. The trike continued to experience turbulence and the pilot decided to descend rapidly once past the runway numbers in hopes of finding smoother air. At this point, she still felt that she had control of the trike. About 50 feet above the ground; however, a gust of wind struck the trike and pushed it off the runway centerline. She corrected back to the runway, and at this point the trike became uncontrollable and impacted the runway in a nose-down attitude. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical problems with the trike at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while landing in gusting winds.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/19/2009
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1915
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Petaluma
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94954
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381528N
Event Location Longitude 1223619W
Event Location Airport Petaluma Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O69
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 90
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1910 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 160
Weather Observation Facility ID DVO
Elevation of weather observation facility 2
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1900
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26129
NTSB Notification Source FAA AWP 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 9:32AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N729YF
NTSB Number WPR09LA301
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Paul
Aircraft Model Antares
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 001
Certified Max Gross Weight 992
Aircraft Category --
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 Oct 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Caroline Paul
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City San Francisco
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94107
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Caroline Paul
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City San Francisco
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 94107
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code O69
Departure City Petaluma
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code O69
Destination City Petaluma
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2009 5:22PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 3601
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --