LAX06LA275

During a cross country flight in dark night conditions, the aircraft collided with the side of a hill while diverting to an alternate airport. Low fog was reported to be moving into the area at the destination airport and the alternate airport at the time of the accident. Post accident inspection of the wreckage and engine did not reveal evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction.

History of flight

On August 27, 2006, about 2200 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Tevis RV-6A airplane, N312RV, impacted terrain about 2 miles north of the Gnoss Field Airport near Novato, California. The private pilot and passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was built and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The flight originated from the Lincoln Regional Airport, Lincoln, California, around 2100, and was destined for the Petaluma Airport, Petaluma, California. Dark night conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the flight.

According to the pilot's family, he had flown the airplane from Petaluma to Lincoln earlier in the day to attend a family birthday party. The family took the pilot and passenger to the Lincoln airport around 2030, and they believe they departed around 2100. The pilot's hangar and car were located at Petaluma. The pilot's son reported that his father indicated that if the Petaluma airport was fogged in and the ceilings was less than 1,000 feet, he would land at Gnoss field (DVO) in Novato or the Nut Tree airport, in Vacaville, California.

Personnel information

At the time of the accident, the pilot held a private pilot certificate for single-engine landing aircraft. The pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had accumulated a total flight time in all aircraft of 356 hours, with 289 hours as pilot-in-command. A total flight time in the make and model aircraft involved in the accident was approximately 223 hours, with 217 hours as pilot-in-command. A total of 2 hours had been flown in the 90 days preceding the accident.

The pilot held a third class medical certificate issued on November 29, 2004. A limitation listed that the pilot must have available glasses for near vision.

Aircraft information

The aircraft was built by the pilot and certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration on July 6, 2001. A Textron Lycoming O-360-D1A, 180 horsepower engine with a wood propeller was installed. Aircraft records indicate that the aircraft had accumulated a total flight time of approximately 230 hours at the time of the accident.

Meteorological information

The Napa County Airport located 15 nautical miles east of the accident site was reporting weather at 2154 as clear with 10 miles visibility. The temperature was 12 degrees C, and a dew point of 9 degrees C. The wind was from 210 degrees at 4 knots.

At 2254, the sky cover was few at 900 feet with a visibility of 10 miles.

An employee at Gnoss Field located about 2 miles south of the accident site reported that the Petaluma area (north of the accident site) began to get fogged in at approximately 1900 hours. The weather at Gnoss field was clear with 10 miles visibility until about 2200. The fog moved into the area later that night with thick fog present by the early morning hours on August 28.

Wreckage and impact information

The wreckage was located on a hillside known as Neils Island the morning of August 28, by a mosquito abatement officer who was checking the nearby bogs below the wreckage site.

The wreckage was located at north 38 degrees 11.524' latitude, west 122 degrees 34.639' longitude at an elevation of about 140 feet mean sea level (msl). The top of the hill was approximately 180 feet in height at the highest point and the lowest surrounding terrain at the base of the hill was at 0 feet msl.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the airplane impacted the north side of rising terrain (Neils Island) covered with dry grass. Slash marks in the soil were noted in the ground at the initial impact crater. The wreckage was scattered along a debris path in a southerly heading. The wooden propeller broke into several pieces. The engine and firewall tore loose from the fuselage. The forward fuselage and wings displayed aft crushing. The empennage section was partially inverted with the horizontal stabilizer with the elevators attached and the vertical stabilizer with the rudder attached. Both wing fuel tanks were compromised. Evidence of fuel staining was present. The cockpit area and instrumentation was destroyed by impact damage. The emergency locator transmitter was located in the empennage section. The switch was found in the OFF position. When turned to the ON position, the unit emitted a signal.

Medical and pathological information

Toxicological samples sent to the Federal Aviation Administration Civil Aeromedical Institute, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, were listed as negative.

Additional information

Federal Aviation Administration Inspectors reported that no component or aircraft system failures were noted at the accident site. The engine, which was examined after the wreckage was removed from the accident site did not disclose any evidence of anomalies.

The elevation at the Petaluma airport is 87 feet msl. The elevation at Gnoss Field is 2 feet msl. Neils Island is in between both airports and the highest point at approximately 180 feet msl in the straight line between the two airports.

The wreckage was released to the owner's representative on November 30, 2006.