- Date
- September 28, 2012, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Torrance, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N6278VBeech V35A
- Defining event
- Taxi-from runway: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 11, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20120928022849A
- Case key
- 85297
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 directional control during taxi, which resulted in a collision with a parked vehicle.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot landed the airplane and received a clearance to taxi to his hangar. During taxi, he attempted to make a left turn and found that, despite applying full left pedal, the airplane would not turn. The airplane veered off the taxiway surface and continued onto the main ramp area. The pilot could not stop the airplane before its left wing collided with a parked vehicle located on the ramp. A postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
On September 28, 2012, about 1430 Pacific daylight time, a Beechcraft BE-V35A, N6278V, taxied into a parked vehicle at Zamperini Field, Torrance, California. The pilot, who owned the airplane, was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The certified flight instructor, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal local flight departed El Monte Airport, El Monte, California about 1400 with a planned destination of Torrance. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.In a written statement, the pilot reported that he landed and received a clearance to taxi to his hangar. During taxi, he attempted to make a left turn and found that despite inputting full left pedal, the airplane would not turn. The airplane veered off the taxiway surface into the dirt median and continued onto the main ramp area. The pilot could not stop the airplane prior to its left wing colliding with a parked vehicle that was located on the ramp. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and aviation mechanic performed a postaccident examination of the airplane. The FAA inspector stated that the ruddervator system was examined from the cockpit to the ruddervators and there was no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures. The nose wheel steering was also inspected and operationally checked while the airplane was on jacks and no abnormalities were discovered. The inspector found no anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6278V
- Reported as
- Beech V35A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-8602
- Airframe hours
- 2,823
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO-520-B2A, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 26, 2012 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- EMT · El Monte, CA
- Destination
- TOA · Torrance, CA
- Airport
- TOA · Zamperini Field
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
- 79
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 16, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,470 total · 460 in this make and model · 3,050 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- TOA
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 22, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 642 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.