MINDEN, NV, USA
N444DG
BEECH V35B
THE UNICOM OPERATOR TOLD THE PILOT THAT THE SURFACE WINDS WERE FROM THE WEST AT 20 KNOTS GUSTING TO 35 KNOTS AND SUGGESTED RUNWAY 16. RUNWAYS 30 AND 34 WERE AVAILABLE. THE PILOT LANDED ON RUNWAY 16 AND LOST DIRECTIONAL CONTROL. THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED WHEN THE AIRPLANE EXITED THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT SAID THAT HE KNEW HE SHOULD HAVE LANDED ON EITHER RUNWAY 30 OR 34.
On August 6, 1995, at 1538 hours Pacific daylight time, a Beech V35B, N444DG, exited the right side of runway 16 and collapsed the nose gear at Douglas County Airport, Minden, Nevada. The pilot was completing a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. Neither the certificated private pilot nor the three passengers were injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Coeur D'Alene Airport, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, at 1230 hours. The pilot said in a telephone interview conducted on August 16, 1995, that he called the unicom when the flight was 10 miles north of the airport. The unicom operator reported the winds to be from the west at 20 knots, gusting to 30 knots, and suggested runway 16. The pilot stated he lost directional control during the landing roll and the nose gear collapsed when it entered the soft/rough terrain. He also said that the airplane did not experience any preimpact malfunctions or failures. The pilot repeated his telephone statement in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1/2. He added, however, that he should have landed on runway 30 or 34.
The pilot's selection of the wrong runway, improper decision to land with a quartering tail wind, and his improper compensation of the prevailing wind conditions. The gusting crosswind and tail wind were factors in this accident.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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