- Date
- August 12, 1995, 11:23 local (18:23 UTC)
- Place
- Los Banos, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N100AAKinner Sportster K
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 21, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950812023129A
- Case key
- 29184
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 maintain minimum control airspeed resulting in a stall, and not maintaining proper altitude on final approach. Contributing to the accident was the unfavorable wind condition.
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 pilot stated that the 1933 vintage airplane and the engine were operating normally. He was on short final approach and had always been taught to land short on the numbers. He stated that he was too low and too slow to recover from the effects of an eddy wind current from some nearby buildings and stalled. The aircraft landed hard, short of the runway.
Factual narrative
On August 12, 1995, at 1123 hours Pacific daylight time, a Kinner Sportster K, N100AA, was substantially damaged during landing approach to the Los Banos Municipal Airport, Los Banos, California. The pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight and no flight plan was filed.
The airplane collided with terrain and an airport boundary fence prior to coming to rest about 200 yards short of runway 32 at the Los Banos Airport.
The pilot stated that the airplane and the engine were operating normally, and that he had been taught to always land short on the numbers. He also stated that he was too low and too slow to recover from the effects of eddy wind currents from the nearby buildings and stalled.
The pilot was unable to complete an accident report while in the hospital without records.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N100AA
- Reported as
- Kinner Sportster K (SPORTSTER)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 66
- Engine
- Kinner K5, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James D. Wayt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 1995
- Departed
- 069 · Petaluma, CA
- Destination
- PVT · Columbia, KY
- Airport
- LSN · Los Banos Municipal, runway 32, 3,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 71
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MCE, 25 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.