Van B Anthony ZODIAC N99SZ

Summary

On 17 May 2016 at about 23:30 local time, a Van B Anthony ZODIAC registered N99SZ was involved in an accident near Grass Valley, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 May 2016 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Grass Valley, California, United States

Nearest airport

Nevada County Air Park (GOO)

Coordinates

39.2233, -121.0042

Aircraft

Van B Anthony ZODIAC

Registration

N99SZ

Category

Airplane

Year built

2016

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grass Valley → Grass Valley

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA242

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to maintain a stabilized approach and landing, which resulted in a hard landing, loss of directional control, runway excursion, and collision with a parked airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of an experimental amateur built airplane reported that he felt pressured by a trailing airplane while in the traffic pattern; he further reported that this pressure caused him to turn base, and then final sooner than expected, which resulted in an increased airspeed and higher than expected altitude on final approach.   The pilot reported that he decided to proceed with the landing with the intent of utilizing the length of the runway to reduce the airspeed. He further reported that the landing flare was effected by the higher than normal airspeed, and resulted in a hard landing. During the landing roll, the pilot reported that the airplane began to veer to the left and right which progressively increased, resulting in a runway excursion to the left.  During the runway excursion, the airplane impacted a taxiway sign, which disabled the brake(s). The airplane continued across the airport until it impacted a parked airplane on the ramp. As a result of the impact, a post-impact fire ensued and the airplane was destroyed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.