Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fresno Chandler Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fresno, California 93706
Thursday, December 26, 2013 18:21 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 26, 2013, about 1821 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172K, N251JM, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while maneuvering near the Fresno Chandler Executive Airport (FCH), Fresno, California. The airplane was registered to private individuals and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot and his passenger sustained fatal injuries. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight. The cross-country flight originated from Tehachapi, California at 1643 with an intended destination of FCH.
Preliminary information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that the pilot was receiving Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight following with Air Traffic Control (ATC). When the flight was about 10 miles south of the airport, the pilot notified ATC that he had the airport in sight. Subsequently, ATC cancelled flight following and approved the pilot to change frequencies.
Multiple witnesses located adjacent to the accident site and airport reported observing the accident airplane enter the airport traffic pattern for runway 30. A witness located on the ramp area of the airport stated that the airplane initially captured his attention when it landed hard about midway down the runway then proceeded to takeoff. Witnesses observed the airplane continue on a northwesterly heading and maneuver for landing on runway 12, where they observed the airplane fly at a high rate of speed about 10 to 15 feet above ground level (agl). The witnesses stated that the airplane entered a climb about three-quarters down the runway and continued to the southwest where a series of turns were performed. Witnesses further stated that they then observed the airplane approach runway 30. Two witnesses located about mid-field of the airport reported observing the airplane fly along the runway about 100 feet agl, and noted that the left wing navigation light appeared to be inoperative. The witnesses stated that as the airplane neared the departure end of runway 30 at an altitude of about 400 feet agl, it rolled to the left and descended in a vertical attitude below their line of site behind a row of hangars.
Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted terrain about 490 feet southwest of the departure end of runway 30. All major structural items of the airplane were located within about 50 feet of the main wreckage, except for a portion of the outboard left fiberglass wingtip. Numerous white paint chips, landing light lens cover fragments, and a portion of the left fiberglass wingtip was located about 1,406 feet southeast of the threshold of runway 30. A tree about 62 feet in height exhibited numerous broken branches about 40 to 45 feet above the ground. The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/26/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1821 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Fresno |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93706 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364403N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1194936W |
| Event Location Airport | FRESNO CHANDLER EXECUTIVE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FCH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 292 |
| Airport Elevation | 279 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 353 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 62 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 327 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KFAT 270353Z 32003KT 5SM HZ CLR 10/03 A3024 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 8 2014 5:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N251JM |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA078 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17259188 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2299 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| 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 | NOVINGER GEORGE W TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | TEHACHAPI |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 935618832 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Timothy Farmer |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tehachapi |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93561 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KTSP |
| Departure City | Tehachapi |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1643 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FCH |
| Destination City | Fresno |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 8 2014 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 3627 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |