Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Clarita, California 91350
Sunday, March 11, 2012 18:49 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane owner/pilot stated that he overflew the airstrip, which was oriented northeast/southwest in hilly terrain, and saw that the windsock indicated light wind from the southwest. He entered a left traffic pattern for a landing to the northeast (downwind). When the airplane was about halfway down the airstrip, it had still not touched down, and the pilot decided to abandon the landing attempt. He applied takeoff power, pitched and trimmed for a climb, established a positive rate of climb, and retracted the flaps. The airplane did not appear to be outclimbing the rising terrain, so the pilot increased the pitch attitude in an attempt to increase the climb rate. The stall warning sounded a few times, and, each time, the pilot readjusted the pitch as necessary to silence the warning. The pilot continued to fly the runway heading because he did not want to attempt any turns and thereby risk an aerodynamic stall. The airplane impacted terrain about 1.6 miles from and about 1,000 feet above the midpoint of the airstrip. A fire, first visible on the right side of the cowling near the battery, quickly ensued, which consumed the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical conditions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's delayed decision to abandon the landing attempt, which resulted in the airplane colliding with rising terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to land with a tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/11/2012
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1849
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Santa Clarita
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91350
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 343253N
Event Location Longitude 1182007W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 2651
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1747 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID WHP
Elevation of weather observation facility 1003
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 29762
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 Apr 5 2012 6:06PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4143C
NTSB Number WPR12CA129
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name STINSON
Aircraft Model 108-3
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 108-5143
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 5 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 922
Airframe Hours 922
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type C91-A
Aircraft Owner Name Zaiet Hanna
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City AGUA DULCE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91390-5421
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Davis Zeituni
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City AGUA DULCE
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 91390-5421
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code I70
Departure City Agua Dulce
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1840
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Santa Clarita
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 5 2012 6:06PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 02
Runway Length 2750
Runway Width 30
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --