Watsonville Municipal Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Watsonville, California 95076
Tuesady, October 22, 2013 14:10 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that while in the traffic pattern, the airplane's right rudder stopped responding. She aligned the airplane with the runway for landing and touched down long. During the landing roll, the pilot lost directional control and the airplane departed the runway, and continued through the grass and dirt for about 500 feet. The front main landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to a stop on its nose. The engine's firewall and the tube frame behind the firewall were substantially damaged. A postaccident examination of the airframe revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/22/2013
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1410
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Watsonville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95076
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 365609N
Event Location Longitude 1214722W
Event Location Airport Watsonville Municipal Arpt
Event Location Nearest Airport ID WVI
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
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 1353 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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
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) 29.98
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 32143
NTSB Notification Source FAA 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 11 2013 11:09PM
User who most recently changed record strj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N137LM
NTSB Number WPR14CA033
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name TECNAM
Aircraft Model P92
Aircraft Series Identifier EA
Aircraft Serial Number 1252
Certified Max Gross Weight 1320
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 5 2013 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1338
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name GRYPHON AIRE LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO BOX 7988
Aircraft Owner City SANTA CRUZ
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 950617988
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Ocean Air Flight Services, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 170 Aviation Way
Operator City Watsonville
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 95076
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate 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) Personal
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 1305
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
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 Nov 11 2013 11:09PM
User who most recently changed record strj
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 20
Runway Length 4501
Runway Width 149
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --