LAX97LA145

The pilot descended on the west side of the airport because clouds with low bases existed to the east. It was a dark night, and although the pilot did not observe the windsock, his GPS indicated a tail wind on runway 08. The pilot further indicated that he encountered a wind gust during rollout, overran the departure end of the runway, and skidded into a perimeter fence. No mechanical malfunctions were reported. Responding sheriff personnel observed 696 feet of skid marks on the pavement, and airport management noted the airplane came to rest upon impacting the perimeter fence, about 90 feet east of the runway's end. Within 20 minutes before and after the accident, the airport's AWOS indicated that the wind was from 220 to 240 degrees at 13 to 16 knots, with gusts from 19 to 23 knots.

On April 4, 1997, at 1900 hours Pacific standard time, a Beech B-60, N22FS, owned and operated by the pilot, landed on runway 08 at the Big Bear City Airport, Big Bear City, California. During landing rollout, the airplane overran the departure end of the 5,850-foot-long runway and collided with a perimeter fence. The airplane was substantially damaged, and neither the commercial pilot nor the passenger was injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight which originated from Santa Ana, California, at 1830.

The pilot verbally reported to the National Transportation Safety Board that because dark clouds with low bases existed on the east side of the airport, he descended through a break in the clouds on the west side of the airport and intentionally landed on runway 08. The pilot stated that he did not observe the airport's windsock, but according to his GPS only a 10-knot tail wind initially existed on final approach. The pilot further reported that he believes the tail wind increased during rollout and that resulted in him being unable to stop on the runway.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's department reported observing evidence of "two locked wheel skids" just prior to the end of the runway's asphalt pavement. The skid marks continued for approximately 696 feet on the asphalt, and then an additional 120 feet in the adjacent dirt before the airplane began "a sideways slide through the dirt" and collided with the perimeter fence.

The sheriff further indicated that the skid mark distances were estimates since the distances "were paced." The Big Bear City airport manager reported that the distance between the end of the runway and the fence was 90 feet.

The pilot reported the following regarding the airplane's rollout and the weather conditions during the dark nighttime landing: "I tried to lock both brakes but the plane just kept on going. As the end of the runway approached I tried to ground loop the airplane and fortunately it turned sideways and skidded in the mud stopping about 100' after leaving the runway. When I got out I experienced a tremendous wind and mist. The wind must have been over 50 MPH. After just a few minutes the wind and mist suddenly stopped."

The airport's automatic meteorological observation station (AWOS) recorded the following wind direction and speed data: at 1840, wind from 220 degrees at 13 knots, with gusts to 19 knots; at 1900, wind from 240 degrees at 16 knots, with gusts to 23 knots; and at 1920, wind from 240 degrees at 13 knots, with gusts to 21 knots.