- Date
- August 16, 1998, 12:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Rio Vista, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1540APiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980816020909A
- Case key
- 43730
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
Failure of the pilot to adequately compensate for the existing wind condition and maintain directional control on rollout.
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 reported the wind condition as variable and gusty. On the landing rollout he was unable to maintain directional control of the aircraft. The aircraft came to rest inverted after standing vertically on its nose.
Factual narrative
On August 16, 1998, at 1245 hours Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-20, N1540A, veered off runway 25 after landing and came to rest inverted at the Rio Vista, California, airport. The aircraft, operated under 14 CFR Part 91, sustained substantial damage. The airline transport rated pilot/owner, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the personal flight that originated from the Reno, Nevada, airport at 1120 on the morning of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported the wind condition as variable and "gusty." After touchdown, a gust of wind pushed the aircraft sideways, and he was unable to control the aircraft. When it hit the dirt beside the runway, the aircraft "tipped up on its nose, then very slowly fell over on its back."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1540A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-748
- Airframe hours
- 3,546
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tim B. Whitney
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 24, 1998 · 86 hours before
- Departed
- RNO · Reno, NV
- Destination
- O88
- Airport
- O88 · Rio Vista, runway 25, 4,200 × 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
- 55
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,292 total · 270 in this make and model · 8,823 as pilot in command · 267 in the last 90 days · 97 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SUU, 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.
Other investigations on N1540A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.