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1.7 Meteorological Conditions
The local surface weather observation, made by the National Weather Service observer following the accident was, in part, sky clear, visibility 30 miles, temperature 81° F., wind 320° at 7 knots, altimeter setting 29.87 inches.
1.8 Aids to Navigation
No aids to navigation were involved.
1.9 Communications
There was no difficulty with radio communication between the aircraft and the tower.
1.10 Aerodrome and Ground Facilities
Sacramento Executive Airport is located in a commercial/residential urban area approximately 3 miles southwest of Sacramento, California. There are three asphalt runways, each 150 feet wide. Runway 2, the instrument runway, is 6,003 feet long, and Runway 34 is 4,984 feet long. Runway 30 is 5,000 feet long, but the landing threshold for Runway 12, the reciprocal, is displaced 670 feet to meet approach slope criteria at the northwest end of the runway. The airport elevation is 21 feet, but the elevation at the northwest end of Runway 30 is 17 feet.
In January 1964, a shopping center was proposed for construction on commercially zoned property at the northwest corner of the airport. The FAA circulated particulars of the construction to various aeronautical interests in order to obtain their comments on the effect of the construction. There were four obstructions the height of which exceeded the then current standards of Section 77.27(b)(2)[1] by 9, 11, 13, and 14 feet.
- ↑ Part 77 is the Federal regulation governing "Objects Affecting Navigable Airspace." Part 77.27(b)(2) established an imaginary approach area surface for runways such as Runway 30 as follows: beginning at the end of the runway and extending 500 feet outward at the elevation of the approach end of the runway and then sloping upward at the ratio of 1 to 40, being 500 feet wide at the beginning and expanding uniformly to a width of 3,000 feet at the outer extremity, 10,000 feet from the end of the runway.
