Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sacramento Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sacramento, California 95837
Friday, August 23, 2013 18:38 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 23, 2013, about 1838 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28 airplane, N8223W, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain shortly after takeoff from runway 20 at Sacramento Executive Airport (SAC), Sacramento, California. The private pilot and certificated flight instructor (CFI) received serious injuries. The airplane was operated by Capitol Flying, Inc., and the instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no FAA flight plan was filed for the flight.
According to the pilot, he had recently purchased a membership share in Capitol Flying, Inc., in order to utilize their airplanes. He enlisted the CFI to provide a checkout in the accident airplane, in order to meet club requirements. The accident flight was their second flight in the airplane; and they planned to conduct some airwork, fly to University airport (EDU), Davis, California, conduct some pattern work, then return to SAC. Preflight inspection detected no anomalies, and the airplane had slightly more than 36 gallons of fuel on board.
Engine start, taxi out to runway 20, and runup were all normal. At some point in the climbout the engine "stumbled" momentarily, but restored to full/normal power for a very brief time. Both the pilot and the CFI believed that this occurred at an altitude of about 500 to 600 feet. Very shortly thereafter, the engine stopped producing sufficient power for flight, and was running "roughly." The two conducted some basic checks to verify proper engine control configuration, but the airplane continued to descend. They turned the airplane to the left to attempt to land on the golf course, but the airplane struck intervening trees. Golfers on the course extracted the pilot and CFI from the airplane, tended to them, and summoned first aid. Neither the pilot nor the CFI recall any events between the tree strikes and finding themselves in the ambulances.
The wreckage was located near the second hole on the Bing Maloney Golf Course, which was situated south of and adjacent to SAC. The fuselage/cabin came to rest inverted. Both wings had fracture-separated during the impact sequence, but the fuselage/cabin remained essentially intact. The two front seats remained attached to the cabin floor. The airplane was not equipped with shoulder harnesses. The engine remained attached to its mounts, which remained partially attached to the fuselage. There was no fire.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information indicated that the airplane was manufactured in 1965, and was equipped with a Lycoming O-360 series engine. Maintenance records indicated that the engine had accumulated about 1,430 hours since overhaul. According to the airplane flight log sheet, the airplane had been flown about 3.5 hours in the week preceding the accident. At the time of the accident, the tachometer registered 4,556.0 hours, and the hour meter registered 1,908.0 hours. The wreckage was retained by the NTSB for detailed examination.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued in August 2013. Examination of his logbook indicated that he had a total flight experience of about 80 hours. The CFI held instructor ratings for airplane single- and multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. He estimated that he had a total of about 7,000 hours of flight experience, including about 500 hours in the accident airplane make and model. His most recent FAA first-class medical certificate was issued in April 2013.
The SAC 1853 automated weather observation included winds from 200 degrees at 7 knots; visibility 10 miles; clear skies; temperature 27 degrees C; dew point 11 degrees C; and an altimeter setting of 29.74 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1838 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sacramento |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95837 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Sacramento Executive |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SAC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 27 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.74 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| 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 3 2013 5:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8223W |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA384 |
| 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 28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-2356 |
| 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 | Annual |
| 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 | Capitol Flying, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Antelope |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95843 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Capitol Flying, Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Antelope |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95843 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SAC |
| Departure City | Sacramento |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1836 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SAC |
| Destination City | Sacramento |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 3 2013 5:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 5503 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |