West Catlet Private Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pleasant Grove, California 95668
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 13:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he had just completed spraying a field and was landing to the north with what he estimated to be a 12-mile-per-hour tailwind. As the airplane touched down on the main wheels with the tailwheel off the ground, the airplane began to veer to the left. The pilot attempted to correct the airplane back toward the runway, but it continued to veer left towards a berm. He added full power to attempt to abort the landing, but collided with a trailer near the departure end of the runway. The nearest weather reporting station, located about 8.5 nautical miles south of the accident site, reported wind from 180 degrees at 16 knots at the time of the accident. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal flight. The pilot stated that the reloading and refueling equipment is located at the north end of the airstrip and that they always land to the north and take off to the south to save time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/11/2011
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Pleasant Grove
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95668
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 385104N
Event Location Longitude 1213430W
Event Location Airport West Catlet Private Airstrip
Event Location Nearest Airport ID pvt
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 26
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1952 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 194
Weather Observation Facility ID SMF
Elevation of weather observation facility 26
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 85
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 166
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 16
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 28531
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 27 2011 5:35PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N510CW
NTSB Number WPR11CA222
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name THRUSH AIRCRAFT INC
Aircraft Model S2R-T34
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number T34-277
Certified Max Gross Weight 11073
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 1
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 30 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Farm Air Flying Services Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Sacramento
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95836-9202
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Farm Air Flying Services Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Sacramento
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95836
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
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) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code pvt
Departure City Pleasant Grove
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1245
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code pvt
Destination City Pleasant Grove
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 27 2011 5:33PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 2400
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --