Delano Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Delano, California 93215
Tuesady, July 17, 2012 11:40 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The owner-pilot was the only person on board and was flying the turboprop airplane on a personal business trip. When he was about 10 miles south-southeast of the non-towered destination airport, he heard the pilot of a twin-engine airplane report that he was approaching the same airport from the north. The wind favored a landing on runway 32, and the turboprop pilot planned to fly a straight-in approach for landing on that runway. When the turboprop pilot was on final approach for runway 32 about 5 miles from the airport, he heard the twin-engine pilot announce that he was on the left base leg of the traffic pattern for runway 14. As the turboprop pilot continued the approach about 2 miles from the airport, he observed the twin-engine airplane on his traffic display; at that time, the twin-engine airplane was still about 6 miles from the airport. Constant radio transmissions from aircraft at two other non-towered airports in the vicinity precluded the turboprop pilot from communicating clearly with the twin-engine pilot to coordinate their arrivals. Based on the information from his traffic display, the turboprop pilot continued his straight-in approach for runway 32. Due to the distractions of the twin-engine airplane and the radio communication difficulties, the turboprop pilot did not perform the approach checklist and forgot to extend the landing gear, which he did not realize until touchdown. The airplane came to rest upright and intact about 50 feet off the side of the runway. The pilot was uninjured. Examination revealed substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that he had traveled internationally in the preceding weeks and that he experienced some "mental fatigue." It was not determined whether or when the twin-engine airplane landed at the same airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear before touchdown. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to perform the appropriate checklist due to distractions posed by another airplane inbound to the same airport and a cluttered radio frequency.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/17/2012
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1140
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Delano
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93215
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 354444N
Event Location Longitude 1191411W
Event Location Airport Delano Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DLO
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 316
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 1835 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID PTV
Elevation of weather observation facility 443
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
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) 30528
NTSB Notification Source FAA Western Pacific ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 11 2012 2:18PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N558RW
NTSB Number WPR12CA310
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 PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-46
Aircraft Series Identifier 500TP
Aircraft Serial Number 4697346
Certified Max Gross Weight 5134
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 15 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 22
Airframe Hours 875
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Prima Exports
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City La Quinta
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92253
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Ross Westbrook
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City La Quinta
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92253
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code TRM
Departure City Thermal
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1015
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DLO
Destination City Delano
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 11 2012 2:18PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 5659
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --