| Crash location | 38.775834°N, 122.992500°W |
| Nearest city | Cloverdale, CA
38.805462°N, 123.017223°W 2.4 miles away |
| Tail number | N621BP |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 09 Jun 2004 |
| Aircraft type | Harold W Bruce RV-6 |
| Additional details: | None |
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On June 9, 2004, about 1640 Pacific daylight time, a Bruce experimental RV-6, N621BP, impacted terrain short of the runway while landing at Cloverdale Municipal Airport (O60) Cloverdale, California. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries, and a post impact fire destroyed the airplane. The personal cross-country flight departed Healdsburg, California, about 1630. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed; no flight plan had been filed. The primary wreckage was at 38 degrees 46.33 minutes north latitude and 122 degrees 59.33 minutes west longitude.
The airplane was landing to the southeast, using runway 14 at Cloverdale Airport. The airplane impacted in a level attitude, about 10 feet short of the runway threshold.
Witnesses estimated that the winds were 15 knots gusting to 25 knots out of the northwest.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
A review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records revealed that the pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplanes single engine land. The pilot held a repairman experimental aircraft builder certificate with an inspection certificate for the accident airplane.
The pilot held a third-class medical certificate issued on March 3, 2003. It had the limitation that the pilot must wear corrective lenses.
No personal flight records were located for the pilot. The aeronautical experience listed in this report was obtained from a review of the airmen FAA records on file in the Airman and Medical Records Center located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. These records indicated a total time of 1,800 hours.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The airplane was an experimental, Harold William Bruce, RV-6, serial number 0001. Aircraft logbooks were not located.
The airplane engine was a Textron Lycoming O-320 engine. Engine logbooks were not located.
Fueling records at Healdsburg Municipal Airport established that the airplane was last fueled on June 9, 2004, at 1611, with the addition of 9.89 gallons of 100LL-octane aviation fuel. The pilot obtained fuel at the self-serve fuel pit. He had requested and received credit card authorization for 30 gallons. However, the airport fueling system ran out of fuel.
METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS
The closest official weather observation station was an automated weather observation system (AWOS) at Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa, California (STS), which was located 19 nautical miles (nm) southeast of the accident site. The elevation of the weather observation station was 125 feet mean sea level (msl). An aviation routine weather report (METAR) for STS was issued at 1553. It stated: winds from 130 degrees at 13 knots; visibility 10 miles; skies clear; temperature 77 degrees Fahrenheit; dew point 52 degrees Fahrenheit; altimeter 29.91 inHg.
Witnesses at Healdsburg Airport reported that the winds had been out of the south at the time the pilot was at Healdsburg. However, the winds shifted shortly after the pilot departed Healdsburg and were then out of the northwest.
The witness was 4 miles away.
AIRPORT INFORMATION
The Airport Facility Directory, Southwest U. S., indicated that Cloverdale Municipal Airport runway 14 was 3,155 feet long and 60 feet wide. The runway surface was composed of asphalt.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
Investigators from the FAA examined the wreckage at the accident scene.
The first identified point of contact (FIPC) was a ground scar about 10 feet northwest of the runway edge. The debris path was along a magnetic bearing of 140 degrees. The airplane came to rest on the left edge of the runway, about 50 feet past the runway threshold. All flight control surfaces were present and accounted for at the wreckage site.
The post impact fire consumed the airplane.
Emergency response personnel noted that the winds were about 20 knots and out of the northwest. The post impact fire spread to the vegetation adjacent to the runway and spread southeast from the main wreckage.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
The Sonoma County Coroner completed an autopsy. The FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, performed toxicological testing of specimens of the pilot. The results of analysis of the specimens were negative for carbon monoxide, cyanide, volatiles, and tested drugs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The investigator-in-charge released the wreckage to the owner's representative.
the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision and selection of the wrong runway, and his inadequate compensation for the gusting tail wind conditions, which resulted in a stall/mush.