Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Valley International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Harlingen, Texas 78551
Sunday, August 28, 1994 14:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
FOLLOWING UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO START THE ENGINES, A MECHANIC REMOVED THE 'P' LEADS ON ALL MAGNETOS MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETE THE RUN-UP CHECKS. SECONDS AFTER GEAR RETRACTION THE AIRPLANE VELOCITY DECREASED AND FROM ABOUT 200 FEET MSL, A FORCED LANDING WAS MADE TO A PLOWED FIELD. PASSENGERS REPORTED HEARING THE STALL WARNING. ENGINE CONTINUITY WAS CONFIRMED. DIFFERENTIAL COMPRESSION CHECKS FOUND 4 CYLINDERS BELOW 60 PSI FOR THE LEFT AND 5 CYLINDERS BELOW 60 PSI FOR THE RIGHT. POINTS ON ALL MAGNETOS WERE BURNED AND THE LEFT MAGNETO ON EACH ENGINE WOULD NOT FIRE. ALL SPARK PLUGS EXHIBITED WEAR AND DEPOSITS IN THE ELECTRODES. BOTTOM PLUGS FROM THE LEFT ENGINE CYLINDERS #3 AND #5 WOULD NOT FIRE AND THE BOTTOM PLUGS FROM THE RIGHT ENGINE CYLINDERS #1, #3, #4, #5, AND #6 WOULD NOT FIRE. TOP PLUGS FROM THE RIGHT ENGINE CYLINDERS #5 AND #6 WOULD NOT FIRE. THE LEFT ENGINE FUEL CONTROL UNIT THROTTLE BODY WAS NOT CLAMPED AT THE TURBOCHARGER. THERE WERE 6 MALE PASSENGERS, THEIR BAGGAGE, AND 120 GALLONS OF FUEL ABOARD. DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS CALCULATED AT 2,600 FEET.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED RESULTING IN AN INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS WERE A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER ON ALL ENGINES DUE TO WORN AND FOULED SPARK PLUGS AND INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE BY COMPANY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL, AIRCRAFT WEIGHT BEYOND LIMITATIONS, AND HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1410 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HARLINGEN |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78551 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | VALLEY INTERNATIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HRL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 36 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1410 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HRL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 36 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2600 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 7 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 7 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1528 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 28 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N966JW |
| NTSB Number | FTW94FA282 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 402 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 402 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 402-0066 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6300 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 24 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAREY, MICHAEL T. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. BOX 743 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COMBES |
| Aircraft Owner State | RX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78535 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CAREY, MICHAEL A. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | VWYA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1408 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MMA |
| Destination City | MATAMOROS |
| Destination State | MX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17L |
| Runway Length | 5950 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |