Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Placid Lakes Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Placid, Florida 33852
Wednesday, June 28, 1995 7:55 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT STATED THAT DURING CRUISE FLIGHT AT 5,000 FEET ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER DEPARTURE, THE ENGINE EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF POWER. MOMENTARY APPLICATION OF CARBURETOR HEAT RESTORED ENGINE POWER BUT THE ENGINE AGAIN FAILED. DURING THE FORCED LANDING THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TREES. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED CRANKSHAFT, CAMSHAFT, AND VALVE TRAIN CONTINUITY. DIFFERENTIAL COMPRESSION OF ALL CYLINDERS USING 80 PSI AS A BASE REVEALED NUMBERS GREATER THAN 70 PSI. EACH MAGNETO TO ENGINE TIMING WAS DETERMINED TO BE CORRECT AND THE MAGNETOS WERE REMOVED FOR BENCH TESTING WHICH REVEALED THAT THE RIGHT MAGNETO WAS OPERATING NORMALLY. THE LEFT MAGNETO WAS FOUND TO BE FIRING INTERMITTENTLY DUE TO PARTIAL FAILURE OF THE IGNITION COIL. EXAMINATION OF THE FUEL VENT SYSTEM REVEALED THAT A VENTED FUEL CAP WAS FOUND SECURED BY CHAIN TO THE LEFT FUEL TANK FILLER PORT AND A NON- VENTED FUEL CAP WAS SECURED BY CHAIN TO THE RIGHT FUEL TANK PORT. THE CORRECT POSITIONS FOR VENTED AND NON-VENTED FUEL CAPS IS OPPOSITE FROM THE POSITIONS IN WHICH THEY WERE FOUND. ADDITIONALLY, A MALFUNCTION OF THE VENT VALVE ASSEMBLY WAS NOTED. THE VENT VALVE ASSEMBLY WAS NOT REMOVED FOR EXAMINATION. THE AIRPLANE HAD ACCUMULATED ABOUT 3.9 HOURS SINCE AN ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED ON APRIL 6, 1995.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
TOTAL FAILURE OF THE FUEL VENT SYSTEM RESULTING IN THE TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DURING CRUISE FLIGHT. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE INADEQUATE INSPECTION OF THE AIRPLANE DURING THE LAST ANNUAL INSPECTION FOR FAILURE OF THE MECHANIC TO IDENTIFY THAT THE VENTED AND NON-VENTED FUEL CAPS WERE INCORRECTLY POSITIONED.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 755 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LAKE PLACID |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33852 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PLACID LAKES |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8X6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 304 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 750 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 212 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FMY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 46 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 934 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 842 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96567 |
| NTSB Number | MIA95LA165 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17276086 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 6 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 384 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FIRST SOUTHEAST AVIATION CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 777 E. WISCONSIN AVE. STE. 333 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MILWAUKEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53202 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DAVID A. STRAZ |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4805 SWANN AVE. |
| Operator City | TAMPA |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33609 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PIE |
| Departure City | ST. PETERSBURG |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 651 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PBI |
| Destination City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |