Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mc Chesney Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Luis Obispo, California 93401
Sunday, August 7, 1994 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A FEW MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF, WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING THE AIRCRAFT IN THE NIGHT SKY FLYING BETWEEN 50 AND 100 FEET AGL, WESTBOUND, APPROXIMATELY 3 1/2 MILES FROM THE AIRPORT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS NEXT OBSERVED IN A LEFT DESCENDING TURN OVER THE FREEWAY WITH THE ENGINE MAKING LOUD AND UNUSUAL NOISES. THE AIRCRAFT SUBSEQUENTLY STRUCK A SECTION OF OVERHEAD HIGH-TENSION ELECTRICAL LINES THAT SPANNED THE FREEWAY. THE DRIVER OF A NORTHBOUND VEHICLE REPORTED THAT HIS VEHICLE COLLIDED WITH THE AIRCRAFT AS IT SLID ACROSS THE NORTHBOUND LANES OF TRAFFIC. THE AIRCRAFT CAME TO REST IN THE NORTHBOUND EMERGENCY LANE. AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH, THE ONLY OUTSIDE ILLUMINATION WAS FROM GROUND LIGHTS IN THE CITY. UPON INITIAL INSPECTION, IT WAS NOTED THAT THE ENGINE CASE WAS FRACTURED IN THE AREA OF THE NO. 4 CYLINDER. A FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE INTERNAL COMPONENTS REVEALED THAT THE NO. 4 ROD AND END CAP HAD SEPARATED FROM THE CRANKSHAFT. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE FAILED COMPONENTS TO DETERMINE THE FAILURE MODE WAS UNSUCCESSFUL DUE TO DAMAGE SUSTAINED ON THE FRACTURE FACES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the No. 4 cylinder connecting rod for undetermined reasons. The dark night lighting conditions, which hampered the ability of the pilots to detect the power lines, was a factor in this accident.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 6 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN LUIS OBISPO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93401 |
| 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 | MC CHESNEY FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SBP |
| 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 | 290 |
| Airport Elevation | 209 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2250 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SLO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 209 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1711 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 30 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 21 2002 3:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6959J |
| NTSB Number | LAX94FA308 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7635367 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 25 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 62 |
| Airframe Hours | 5043 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMERICAN AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 337 N. 2370 W. STE. 231-E |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84116 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LARRY WRIGHT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 337 N. 2370 W. STE. 231-E |
| Operator City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 84116 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 3 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SLC |
| Destination City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 4799 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |