Santa Monica Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Venice, California 90291
Thursday, July 1, 2010 18:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the takeoff climb following a touch-and-go landing, the pilot communicated with a tower controller that he needed to return to the airport for landing, but did not indicate the type of problem. Witnesses observed the airplane make a 90-degree left turn and enter into a spiraling nose-dive before losing sight of it behind a tree line. The airplane subsequently impacted a copse of trees on a golf course. During the on-scene inspection, investigators identified all major flight controls of the airplane at the main wreckage area, and the smell of fuel was present at the accident site. The propeller separated from the propeller hub assembly and came to rest just forward of the main wreckage. One propeller blade had chordwise scratching with leading edge gouging; the other propeller blade was relatively undamaged. Both wings remained in their normal relative position and attached to the fuselage. The empennage section was twisted and folded over to the right. The tail section separated from the empennage, but remained attached via its control cables. All flight controls remained connected on site. The operator reported no mechanical problems in the weeks between the annual/100-hour inspections and the date of the accident. During the reconstruction investigators found no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and airplane control during initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and subsequent impact with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/1/2010
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Venice
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90291
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 340029N
Event Location Longitude 1182727W
Event Location Airport Santa Monica Muni Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SMO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 177
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1751 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 215
Weather Observation Facility ID SMO
Elevation of weather observation facility 177
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
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) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
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) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.79
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 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 28151
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 Mar 24 2011 5:33PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N94838
NTSB Number WPR10FA325
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15285799
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 8 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 12885
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Kim Davidson Aviation Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2701 Airport Avenue
Aircraft Owner City Santa Monica
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 90405
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Justice Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3011 Airport Ave
Operator City Santa Monica
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 90405
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 SMO
Departure City Santa Monica
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code SMO
Destination City Santa Monica
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 24 2011 5:11PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 4973
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --