Yuba County Airport, Marysville, CA

Location :  The Yuba Count Airport is located 3 miles south east of Marysville, California.

History :

Yuba County Airport Today: Obstructions reported; Migrating water fowl spring and fall; Intensive flight training; Agricultural operations; Gyroplanes; Helicopter and Military operations; RC models;



Airport Services and Amenities:  Krueger Aviation, Inc.; REACH Air Ambulance; Red Carpet Aviation Services, Inc. Yuba Sutter Aviation, Inc.;

Special Events and Attractions: Sleeptrain Amphitheater; 

Airport Area Accident History:

Accident occurred Monday, July 13, 2009 in Marysville, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 9/30/2009
Aircraft: ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44, registration: N244HP
Injuries: 3 Uninjured.
The private pilot reported that he was flying the helicopter about 500 feet above the ground and decided to descend to follow a riverbed. While descending to the river, one of the passengers alerted him to the presence of power line wires that obstructed their flight path. The pilot applied full aft cyclic and collective in an attempt to avoid colliding with the wires; however, the tail boom and tail rotor contacted the wires. The impact resulted in the separation of the tail rotor blades and the bottom section of the vertical stabilizer from the helicopter. Following the collision the pilot initiated an autorotation. Upon touchdown, the helicopter bounced and when it touched down again, it was moving sideways to the left and rolled over. The helicopter came to rest on the bank of the river on its left side. Examination of the helicopter revealed substantial damage to the main rotor assembly, the tail rotor assembly, vertical stabilizer, tail boom, and
fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the helicopter prior to the accident.
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On May 5, 2009, at 1741 Pacific daylight time, a Ayres S2R-T34, N40208, and a Grumman G164B, N6617K, collided while landing on runway 23 at Yuba County Airport, Marysville, California. GN Diddle, Inc., operated the Ayres S2R, and Onstott Dusters operated the Grumman G-164B. Both were operating under the provisions of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 137. The commercial pilot of the Ayres S2R was not injured, and the commercial pilot of the Grumman G-164B was seriously injured. Both airplanes were substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plans had been filed.

The pilot of the Ayres S2R stated in his NTSB Pilot Accident Report that he was at 500-600 feet above ground level (agl), entered left base, and then turned on to a 3/4-mile final for runway 23. About 30 feet above the ground he impacted with something underneath him, and the airplane fell to the runway. After the crash he realized that his airplane and another airplane had come together over the runway. At no time, prior to the collision, did he have visual contact with the other airplane.

The pilot of the Grumman G-164B stated in his NTSB Pilot Accident Report that he entered a straight in for runway 23, looked for traffic and did not see any. He was over the runway numbers, preparing to land, when he violently lost control of the airplane and hit the ground. As he was being helped out of his airplane he realized his airplane had been struck from behind by another airplane.

Yuba County Airport is an uncontrolled airport. Traffic is coordinated between aircraft using a common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), and pilot visual lookout. Neither airplane was equipped with a VHF radio.
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Accident occurred Sunday, April 29, 2007 in Marysville, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 5/28/2008
Aircraft: McDonald J4B-2, registration: N445SM
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
During cruise flight, witnesses in several different locations reported hearing a loud "pop" emanate from the gyrocopter and then it spiraled to the ground in a nose down attitude. One witness reported that the gyrocopter's nose was pushed up after it was struck by a gust of wind. He watched as the pilot corrected the pitch attitude by pushing the nose down. He then saw the gyrocopter tilting back and forth. A friend of the pilot, who is also the gyrocopter kit manufacturer, reported that he and the pilot had performed a pitch change adjustment to the main rotor system that was about 1/4 inch out of track. After the adjustment was made, the friend test flew the gyrocopter with no problems encountered. The gyrocopter was constructed of a tandem seat configuration fuselage with tricycle landing gear, a two-bladed teetering main rotor system, a rear mounted engine with a three-bladed propeller assembly, followed by a rudder, and vertical and horizontal stabilizers. An inspection of the gyrocopter by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and the gyrocopter kit manufacturer revealed that only about 5 percent of the wooden three-bladed propeller remained affixed to the propeller hub. Reconstruction of the recovered propeller material found that one of the propeller blades had a deep concave deformity at the leading edge approximately 10 inches from the root. No evidence of propeller blade or main rotor blade to airframe contact was found, and the investigation could not explain the origin of the propeller blade defect nor its relationship to the accident's causation, if any. Toxicological tests revealed the presence in the blood of zolpidem (a prescription sleep aid) at a level consistent with very recent use, and very high blood levels of hydrocodone (a prescription narcotic painkiller), and diphenhydramine (an over-the-counter antihistamine). All three medications would have been expected to result in impairment of judgment and psychomotor skills. The pilot's ability to operate the gyrocopter with the levels of substances found suggests a substantial tolerance to their sedative effects, implying a long-term use of high doses. The pilot had not held a current FAA medical certificate in over 25 years. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: An in-flight loss of control for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the impairment of the pilot by the drug substances identified in the toxicological testing. ===
Accident occurred Monday, March 19, 2007 in Marysville, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 7/25/2007
Aircraft: Mooney Aircraft M20K, registration: N231KZ
Injuries: 1 Serious.
After departing Runway 14 the pilot extended his downwind leg for an incoming airplane. After sighting the incoming traffic and turning onto final approach , the pilot observed an unlighted approach light bar immediately in front of him, which the airplane subsequently "clipped". The airplane then impacted two more light bar standards prior to impacting terrain and coming to rest upright about 1,000 feet from the approach end of Runway 14. The pilot stated that if he had not extended his downwind and had activated the pilot controlled lighting, the accident would have been avoided. The airplane's firewall and left wing sustained substantial damage. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The failure of the pilot to maintain a proper glidepath while on final approach and his failure to maintain clearance, which resulted in an undershoot and subsequent collision with the runway's approach light standards. A factor was the approach light standards. ===
Accident occurred Saturday, April 28, 2001 in MARYSVILLE, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/24/2002
Aircraft: TAYLOR BANDIT, registration: N8057T
Injuries: 1 Serious.
The experimental gyrocopter dropped back to the runway and caught fire following a loss of engine power during takeoff. The gyrocopter made a nose high takeoff. About 50 to 100 feet in the air, the engine sputtered and the gyrocopter fell straight back down to the runway. It burst into flames, and the pilot extricated himself from the wreckage. He fled the runway, on his own power with his clothes on fire, to a truck where medical personnel provided treatment. The gyrocopter had tapered fuel tanks that narrowed at the bottom. Fuel lines at the bottom of the tank went from the leading and trailing edge of the tank to the engine. The pilot used two plastic gas cans to fuel the gyrocopter. About 1/2 gallon of fuel remained in each can, and investigators discovered water in each can. The gas had been in the fuel cans when the pilot arrived at the airport. A third can that was full of fuel also had water in it. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The pilot performed an inadequate preflight inspection resulting in a loss of engine power at a low altitude because of water contamination.



Yuba County Airport Approach / Landing: