# NTSB LAX02LA125: Schweizer G-164B, N48631, Dixon, CA, March 7, 2002 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: March 7, 2002, 12:17 local (20:17 UTC) - Place: Dixon, CA - Coordinates: 38.389232, -121.810462 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.3892&lon=-121.8105&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report November 25, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 54466 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=LAX02LA125 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/54466/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=54466 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX02LA125 ## Probable cause The pilot lost directional control due to the unsuitable landing area. A contributing factor was the muddy runway condition. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - roll - unsuitable terrain or takeoff/landing/taxi area - encountered, pilot in command (cause) - terrain condition - muddy (contributing factor) - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - weather condition - tailwind ## Analysis The airplane veered off the runway during landing and came to rest inverted. The pilot had completed several flights using this runway earlier that day. To avoid mud puddles, he landed off of the runway center line. The right main gear grabbed into the soft dirt and the airplane departed the runway. During the accident landing there was a quartering tailwind. ## Factual narrative On March 7, 2002, at 1217 Pacific standard time, a Schweizer G-164B, N48631, veered off a dirt strip and overturned after landing near Dixon, California. The commercial pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137. The pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The aerial application flight departed from the strip about 1200. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The incident was upgraded to an accident on April 4, 2002. The pilot stated he had completed several flights that morning from a primarily north-south dirt strip in the middle of a wheat field. He had been taking off and landing to the north with a quartering tailwind from the southwest. Gusty winds and showers had been passing through the area all morning and the strip had ruts and puddles. After his third turn, he landed to the south, but the airplane got stuck in a mud puddle, and his crew pulled the airplane out. On the next flight he elected to depart to the north. The pilot completed two more load cycles successfully by departing and landing to the north. On the accident landing, he placed the left main landing gear in the center of the strip and the right main landing gear near the edge of the strip, which was soft and wet. The wheel grabbed into the soft dirt, and the airplane veered to the right into the wheat field. The airplane overturned, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and empennage. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N48631](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N48631-2018-03-15), registration cancelled 2018-03-15, S/N 64B, built 1976 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Schweizer G-164B - Registry model: [Grumman Acft ENG Cor-Schweizer G-164B](https://openairdocs.org/model/grumman-acft-eng-cor-schweizer-g-164b) (registry code 3952802) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney R-985 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-r-985-series) (registry code 52008, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: G4B - Engines: Pratt & Whitney R1340 600 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Aerial application, Part 137 - Registered owner: Robert W. Zuber - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Restricted (Special) - Departed: DIXON, CA ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 27; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; last flight review May 4, 2001; seat: center; flight hours: 1,640 total, 706 in this make and model, 1,438 as pilot in command, 143 in the last 90 days, 101 in the last 30 days, 4 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 200° at 11 knots, gusting 17 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 1,800 ft broken - Temperature: 55 °F, dew point 52 °F - Altimeter: 29.82 inHg - Observed at: VCB ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20020307010689A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020307010689A), Mar 7, 2002: Scwzer G164B, Dixon, CA, No damage. (-23) Pilot stated he lost control during landing down wind, on a muddy remote landing strip, during 137 operations. Pilot was not injured. Aircraft ended… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 19, 2003, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=54466. 348 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 348 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40392695&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.