Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Swansboro Country Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Placerville, California 95667
Saturday, August 16, 2014 18:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 16, 2014, about 1840 Pacific daylight time, a Starduster II SA300, N411TM, an experimental biplane, collided with terrain while maneuvering near the Swansboro Country Airport (01CL), Placerville, California. The private pilot was seriously injured and the passenger was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The airplane was registered and operated by the pilot under provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The cross-country flight originated from Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), San Jose, California at an unknown time.
According to a family member who spoke with the pilot, the pilot stated that during the cross-country flight the airplane had a loss of performance while flying in formation with another airplane, which was also destined for 01CL. During the landing attempt the pilot aborted landing for unknown reasons, and continued flying in an eastbound direction. Subsequently, the pilot lost control just prior to impact with terrain.
A witness located on the ramp at 01CL saw the airplane perform the aborted landing and noticed nothing unusual about its flight path, although it was at a high altitude as it proceeded across the airport. She then turned her attention to a taxiing airplane. The witness further stated that the gusty winds caused several other airplanes during the day to also abort their landings. The airplane was thought to have departed the area and land at the Placerville Airport (PVF), Placerville, California, which was located about 5 miles south of 01CL. A call to the pilot about 30 minutes later confirmed the accident and its location.
Initial examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the forward fuselage and firewall were crushed. The first responders cut fuel lines and control cables while removing the upper wing.
The airplane was relocated to a secured facility for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/16/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1840 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Placerville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95667 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384760N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204258W |
| Event Location Airport | SWANSBORO COUNTRY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 01CL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 2594 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 135 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 299 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAUN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1531 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KAUN 170135Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 32/06 A29 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-ROC Seattle, WA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 2 2014 6:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hogd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N411TM |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA348 |
| 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 | CLIFF |
| Aircraft Model | STARDUSTER II SA300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NIELAND RICHARD H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN JOSE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 951112645 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | NIELAND RICHARD H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SAN JOSE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 951112645 |
| 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 | RHV |
| Departure City | SAN JOSE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 01CL |
| Destination City | Placerville |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 4 2014 10:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 3100 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |