- Date
- February 4, 2003, 07:55 local (15:55 UTC)
- Place
- Middletown, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3361CBeech F35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 1, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030204003539A
- Case key
- 56446
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to attain an adequate takeoff airspeed and failure to abort the takeoff when the lack of acceleration was apparent.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane collided with a fence and a house during takeoff. The run-up was normal and he added power for takeoff on the 1,600-foot-long dirt runway. During the takeoff roll, one wheel drifted into softer dirt on the edge of the runway; as a result, the airplane slowed. The pilot maneuvered the airplane back to the runway and realized he was close to a barbed wire fence. He pulled back on the yoke but the main tires hit the top wire. Shortly thereafter, the airplane impacted a house.
Factual narrative
On February 4, 2003, about 0755 Pacific standard time, a Beech F35, N3361C, collided with a fence and a house during takeoff from a private dirt airstrip near Middleton, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The personal cross-country flight was en route to Ukiah, California.
The pilot reported that he was flying to work from a 1,600-feet-long private, dirt strip. The run-up was normal and he added power for takeoff. During the takeoff roll, one wheel drifted into softer dirt on the edge of the runway; as a result, the airplane slowed. The pilot maneuvered the airplane back to the runway and realized he was close to a barbed wire fence. He pulled back on the yoke but the main tires hit the top wire. Shortly thereafter, the airplane impacted a house.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3361C
- Reported as
- Beech F35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D4028
- Airframe hours
- 5,608
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-BA, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Daniel R. Leigh
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 2002 · 111 hours before
- Departed
- PVT · Middletown, CA
- Destination
- UKI · Ukiah, CA
- Airport
- PVT · Spooner Ranch, runway 9, 1,600 × 20 ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 42
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- January 24, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,470 total · 450 in this make and model · 2,470 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KSTS, 21 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2004, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 312 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.