Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Oceano County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oceano, California 93445
Friday, August 31, 2012 11:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 31, 2012, about 1140 Pacific daylight time (PDT), a Beech G35, N4454D, encountered clear air turbulence while on descent to Oceano County Airport, Oceano, California. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The commercial pilot and two passengers were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage structure. The cross-country personal flight departed Tulare, California, about 1100, with a planned destination of Oceano. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported that while in descent to land at Oceano at 2,500 feet, he encountered a turbulence event, which lasted about 2 seconds. He stated that his indicated airspeed was about 180 miles per hour, and he immediately reduced power and slowed the airplane to about 140 miles per hour. He continued the approach without incident and landed.
After landing the pilot observed deformities along the fuselage and determined that further examination of the airplane was warranted. Maintenance personnel examined the airplane and discovered substantial damage to the tail section of the fuselage.
The pilot notified the NTSB on September 6, 2012, after he was advised by the maintenance personnel of the damage.
The airplane was examined and documented on September 11, 2012, by investigators from the FAA and the airplane manufacturer's representative for Hawker Beechcraft Company.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1140 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Oceano |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93445 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 350603N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1203712W |
| Event Location Airport | Oceano County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L52 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 212 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 11:56 AM 69.1 °F 51.1 °F 53% 29.96 in 10.0 mi |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WP 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 | Sep 19 2012 10:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4454D |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA396 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | G35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-4598 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PADDOCK IAN B |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | HANFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93230-3029 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PADDOCK IAN B |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | HANFORD |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93230-3029 |
| 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 | TLR |
| Departure City | Tulare |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | L52 |
| Destination City | Oceano |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 19 2012 10:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |