Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Livermore Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Livermore, California 94550
Sunday, October 20, 2013 14:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 20, 2013, about 1400 Pacific daylight time, a Pitts/Aviat S2C, N15TA, substantially damaged a Cessna 172S, N698SP, when it taxied into the Cessna at Livermore Municipal airport (LVK), Livermore, California, after receiving taxi clearance from the air traffic control tower. The Pitts was owned and operated by Attitude Aviation of LVK, while the Cessna was operated by West Valley Flying Club (WVFC) of Palo Alto, California. None of the two persons on board either airplane was injured. Both flights were conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
According to the certified flight instructor (CFI) in the right front seat of the Cessna, he was providing a flight checkout for the private pilot in the left seat. Their flight originated from Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) and they had landed uneventfully on LVK runway 25L. They exited 25L to the south at taxiway G, and called LVK ground control (GC) for a clearance to taxi back for a takeoff on 25L. The airport was reportedly busy, and after a minute or two, having not received a response from GC, they initiated another radio call. During that transmission they heard "a lot of noise" coming from the rear of their airplane, and realized that their airplane had been struck in the empennage by the propeller of another airplane.
According to the CFI in the front seat of the Pitts, he was providing aerobatics instruction to the pilot in the rear seat. They landed uneventfully on 25R, and exited 25R to the south at taxiway G. The airplane stopped between runways 25R and 25L, and radioed LVK GC for clearance to cross 25L and taxi back to the Attitude Aviation facility. The two pilots in the Pitts watched an unspecified Vans airplane land on 25L, and saw that airplane stop and exit 25L to the south at a taxiway before (east of) their position. LVK GC then cleared the Pitts across 25L, but the controller did not advise them of the Cessna holding just south of 25L on taxiway G. The Pitts taxied across 25L. Due to the tailwheel configuration and limited forward visibility of the Pitts, neither pilot in the Pitts was aware of the presence of the Cessna until the Pitts' propeller struck the empennage of the Cessna.
After their airplane was struck by the Pitts, the Cessna pilots requested and received GC clearance to taxi to the ramp, which they did. The Pitts shut down in place, and the pilots exited the airplane. After some preliminary scene documentation, the Pitts was relocated clear of the traffic movement area.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information indicated that parallel runways 25R and 25L were 5,253 and 2,599 feet long respectively. Examination of the airport layout revealed that the two runway centerlines were separated by about 500 feet, that the Pitts and Cessna were initially separated by about 400 feet, and that the collision location was about 2,600 feet from the air traffic control tower.
The LVK 1353 automated weather observation included wind from 240 degrees at 4 knots; visibility 10 miles, clear skies; temperature 29 degrees C; dew point 1 degree C; and an altimeter setting of 29.93 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/20/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Livermore |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94550 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Livermore Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LVK |
| 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 | 400 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 400 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| 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) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WPR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2013 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15TA | N698SP |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA025A | WPR14LA025B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AVIAT | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | S2 | 172 - S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C | S |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6045 | 172S8639 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Attitude Aviation | Blue Granite Consulting |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Livermore | Sunnyvale |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94551 | 94087 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Attitude Aviation | West Valley Flying Club |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | Livermore | Palo Alto |
| Operator State | CA | CA |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94551 | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- | -- |
| 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 | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LVK | PAO |
| Departure City | Livermore | Palo Alto |
| Departure State | CA | CA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | -- | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LVK | LVK |
| Destination City | Livermore | Livermore |
| Destination State | CA | CA |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2013 5:15PM | Nov 7 2013 5:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25L | 25L |
| Runway Length | 2699 | 2699 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |