Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Oak Country Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Paso Robles, California 93446
Saturday, June 7, 2014 10:05 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On June 7, 2014, about 1005 Pacific daylight time, a Piper J3C-65, N24918, collided with terrain during the takeoff initial climb from Oak Country Ranch Airport near Paso Robles, California. The owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The commercial pilot and the private pilot rated passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence. The cross-country personal flight was departing with a planned destination of Paso Robles Municipal Airport. Visual (VMC) meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
Witnesses observed the airplane lift off, and bank to the right as it was climbing. The bank angle continued to steepen and the airplane pitched down directly toward the ground. Terrain prevented them from seeing ground impact.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) and inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) examined the wreckage on scene. The airplane came to rest on its left side in an open grassy field adjacent to the runway. The left wing sustained more damage than the right wing. The left wing was crumpled its entire length with substantial buckling at the wing root. The left aileron was buckled in several places. The left main landing gear was crushed under the fuselage; the right main landing gear was intact.
Investigators left the engine in place, and manually rotated the crankshaft with the propeller blade remnants; the crankshaft rotated freely. A borescope inspection revealed no mechanical deformation on the valves, cylinder walls, or internal cylinder head. They obtained compression on all cylinders in firing order. The ignition harness was damaged. Investigators removed the magnetos, and the back covers. The magnetos were manually rotated, and both produced spark at all posts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/7/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1005 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Paso Robles |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93446 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353335N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204732W |
| Event Location Airport | Oak Country Ranch |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 33CL |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1005 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| 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) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 3.5 mph |
| 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 AWP 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 | Jun 16 2014 5:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | plah |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24918 |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA234 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | J3C 65 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 65 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3535 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| 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 | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BERG ROBERT O |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PASO ROBLES |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 934468674 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BERG ROBERT O |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PASO ROBLES |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 934468674 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 33CL |
| Departure City | Paso Robles |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1004 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PRB |
| Destination City | Paso Robles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 17 2014 7:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |