Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pine Mountain Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Groveland, California 95321
Tuesady, April 2, 1996 10:58 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot (part owner of the aircraft) held an A&P certificate & had completed a condition/annual inspection of the aircraft before the flight. The aircraft co-owner stated there was a problem with the throttle cable, & the pilot was going to order a new one, but had not yet done so. Witnesses said the aircraft departed straight out after takeoff. About 4 minutes later, it entered a downwind to the pattern, low & very close to the runway. The witnesses estimated the aircraft's altitude was between 200 and 300 feet agl. At first, some witnesses thought the pilot was going to make a downwind landing on the runway. The witnesses said the aircraft made a tight turn from downwind to base. During the base-to-final turn, the right wing dropped, and the aircraft entered a nose-down descent and crashed. The witnesses heard the engine running before impact, but they described the sound as 'not full power.' An examination of the engine & controls revealed that a clip, which secured the accelerator pump plunger to its actuation shaft in the carburetor, was missing & the pump was inoperative. The throttle cable housing/actuating shaft at the carburetor end was found separated from the cable sheath, exposing the unsupported inside cable. A piece of welding rod was found bent around the housing end & taped to the sheath. The cable was removed from the aircraft & operationally tested. During push-pull tests, the carburetor end would sometimes move an amount corresponding to the cockpit end input; at other times, the carburetor end would move only slightly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's decision to fly the aircraft with a known mechanical discrepancy in the throttle linkage, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power; and his failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering for an emergency landing, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. Inadequate maintenance/annual inspection was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/2/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1058 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | GROVELAND |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95321 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PINE MOUNTAIN LAKE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q68 |
| 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 | 2930 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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 | 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 734 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 2 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N59LP |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA152 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | POWELL |
| Aircraft Model | GLASAIR |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | GLASAIR |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 156 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 2 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 1656 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BOBBY HOCKETT & WALTER MAAS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 21161 JIMMERSALL LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | GROVELAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95321 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BOBBY A. HOCKETT |
| 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 | |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Q68 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1054 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Climb |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 3625 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |