Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Estrella Sailport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Maricopa, Arizona 85239
Thursday, July 6, 1995 13:14 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE WAS ABOUT 50 FEET AGL IN THE TAKEOFF INITIAL CLIMB TOWING A GLIDER ALOFT, WHEN HE BECAME AWARE OF A LOSS OF POWER ACCOMPANIED BY A BLACK SMOKE TRAILING FROM THE AIRCRAFT. THE PILOT RELEASED THE GLIDER, BUT DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH ALTITUDE OR AIRCRAFT ENERGY TO MAKE A RETURN TO RUNWAY MANEUVER. HE LANDED ON SOFT DESERT SOIL, AND DURING THE ROLLOUT, THE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED AND THE LEFT WING WAS DAMAGED. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, A PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE DISCLOSED HEAVY SOOTING OF ALL SPARK PLUGS. NO EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OF A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE WAS NOTED. THE PILOT SAID HE BELIEVES AN INTERNAL MALFUNCTION OF THE CARBURETOR WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE POWER LOSS. THE ENGINE AND CARBURETOR WERE EXAMINED BY AN FAA AIRWORTHINESS INSPECTOR WHO REPORTED THAT THE CARBURETOR WAS TOO BADLY DAMAGED TO MAKE ANY DETERMINATION REGARDING POTENTIAL DISCREPANCIES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an undetermined internal failure of the carburetor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/6/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1314 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | MARICOPA |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85239 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ESTRELLA SAILPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E68 |
| 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 | 1273 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 43 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1114 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 14 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9188T |
| NTSB Number | LAX95LA253 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-7856039 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 293 |
| Airframe Hours | 8835 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARIZONA SOARING, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 858 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MARICOPA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85239 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | E68 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 24L |
| Runway Length | 2520 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |