Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Laconia Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Laconia, New Hampshire 03246
Monday, January 4, 1999 12:17 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/owner, sitting in the left seat, and flight instructor were on an instructional instrument flight. Shortly after takeoff, the airplane was seen trailing smoke. The smoke and engine noise stopped, then started again as the airplane leveled off, and began a left, 180-degree turn. The smoke and engine noise again stopped. Then the airplane descended, impacted a parking lot in a left-wing-down attitude, and bounced through a snow bank and down a 15-foot embankment, onto a field. It then rolled upside down, and caught on fire. A large hole was in the top of the engine crankcase, in line with a dislodged number 4 connecting rod. A hole in the bottom of the case was in line with a dislodged number 5 connecting rod. The number 1 connecting rod bearing and journal had light distress scoring in line with the oil supply hole. The number 2 connecting rod bearing and journal were normal, except for fire and heat damage to the bearing. The number 3, 4, 5, and 6 connecting rod journals had heavy distress scoring with extruded bearings. The injuries sustained by the pilot/owner precluded any recollection of the flight. He was not known to preheat the engine, and there were no witnesses to the airplane's preflight, start, runup or takeoff. Outside air temperature was 23 degrees Fahrenheit, and the airplane was stored in an unheated hangar. Recommended time between engine overhaul was 2,000 hours, or 12 years, which ever came first. The engine had in excess of 919 hours of operation, was built over 15 years earlier, and had not had an overhaul.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power during initial climb due to oil starvation. Contributing to the accident was the failure to perform an engine overhaul.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/4/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1217 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LACONIA |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03246 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LACONIA MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LCI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 240 |
| Airport Elevation | 545 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1215 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LCI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 545 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1624 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 4 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N14001 |
| NTSB Number | IAD99FA025 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Lake |
| Aircraft Model | LA-4-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | LA-4-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3140 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAVID L. PENNEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | LONDONBERRY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03053 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LCI |
| Departure City | LACONIA |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MHT |
| Destination City | MANCHESTER |
| Destination State | NH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 5286 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |