Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Watsonville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Watsonville, California 95076
Sunday, June 24, 2012 12:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he departed the airport for the 15-minute skydiving flight with about 20 gallons of fuel onboard. After completing a jump run, he was returning to the airport and maneuvered the airplane on final approach. When the airplane was about 3 miles from the runway and about 1,200 feet above ground level, the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot configured the airplane for the best glide speed, and, shortly thereafter, the engine quit producing any power. The airplane subsequently collided with trees in an orchard about 600 yards from the approach end of the runway.
At the accident site, there was no fuel in the right wing; the remaining fuel from the left wing totaled about 5 gallons. Neither of the tanks were breached; however, the airplane was inverted and some fuel was slowly dripping out the vent, thus it was not possible to determine the exact quantity of fuel in the tanks at the time of the accident. The fuel selector was in the “BOTH ON” position and the unusable fuel for each 30-gallon tank was 2.5 gallons; therefore, the left wing tank had usable fuel at the time of the accident. A postaccident engine examination revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power during approach for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Watsonville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95076 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365608N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214722W |
| Event Location Airport | Watsonville Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WVI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 163 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WVI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 163 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KWVI 241953Z AUTO 25010KT 10SM CLR 18/07 A30 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31585 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA OPS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2013 6:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55DN |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA286 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 33257 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 24 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 6132 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Volker Haag |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Freedom |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95019 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Skydive Surfcity |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Watsonville |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95706 |
| 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) | Skydiving |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | WVI |
| Departure City | Watsonville |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | WVI |
| Destination City | Watsonville |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2013 6:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 4501 |
| Runway Width | 149 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |