- Date
- April 13, 2016, 11:05 local (18:05 UTC)
- Place
- Death Valley, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N21SGCessna 421C
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 13, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- FAA report
- 20160413021519A
- Case key
- 93014
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
A runway overrun for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
Findings · 1
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 airline transport pilot was landing the airplane at the end of a cross-country flight. He stated that the airplane touched down within the first 500 ft of the 3,065-ft-long runway and that, when he applied the brakes, the right brake felt "very soft" and was "totally ineffective." The airplane departed the end of the runway, and the nose landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane was not examined following the accident and was subsequently ferried to another airport for repair. No information was made available regarding the right brake, and the reason for the brake malfunction during landing could not be determined.
Factual narrative
On April 13, 2016, about 1105 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 421C airplane, N21SG, was substantially damaged during a runway excursion while landing at Furnace Creek Airport (L06), Death Valley National Park, California. The airline transport pilot and two passengers were not injured. The airplane was privately owned and was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which originated from St. George Regional Airport (SGU), St. George, Utah, about 0945. The pilot stated that the flight was uneventful and that he entered the airport traffic pattern to land on runway 33 at L06. He stated that the airplane touched down within the first 500 ft of runway, and that upon application of brakes, he found the right brake "very soft" and "totally ineffective." The airplane departed the end of the 3,065-foot-long runway and the nose landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The airplane was not examined following the accident and was subsequently ferried from L06 to another airport for repair. No information was made available regarding the right brake, and the reason for the malfunction during landing could not be determined. The pilot did not submit the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident report form 6120.1.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N21SG
- Reported as
- Cessna 421C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 421C0039
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 5,576
- Engines
- Cont Motor GTSIO-520 SER, 375 horsepower, reciprocatingCont Motor GTSIO-520 SER, 375 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 12, 2016
- Departed
- SGU · St George, UT
- Destination
- L06 · Death Valley, CA
- Airport
- L06 · Furnace Creek Airport, runway 33, 3,065 × 70 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 11,000 total · 435 in this make and model · 4,720 as pilot in command · 70 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KDRA, 42 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 16, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 831 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.