Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Carlos Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Carlos, California 94070
Thursday, June 27, 1996 12:42 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The CFI stated that on the fifth touch and go the student landed, moved the flap selector to the up position, then added full power to takeoff. The student rotated and lifted off from the 2,600-foot-long runway just as the CFI realized that the flaps had not retracted. The flaps did not respond to repeated movement of the selector handle. At this point, the aircraft had passed the end of the runway and would not climb as the airspeed began to decay. The instructor said he attempted to land the aircraft in a clear area straight ahead; however, touched down hard and collapsed the nose gear. A ground witness observed the takeoff attempt of the aircraft and reported that after gaining about 100 feet of altitude it seemed to began losing altitude. The witness saw the flaps in the full down position and noted that the aircraft seemed to be slowing down and losing altitude at a more rapid rate. He said the aircraft nose rose, then the aircraft stalled and descended nose down to ground impact. Examination by an FAA airworthiness inspector revealed that the flaps were in the full down position. The flap system fuse in the cockpit was a 20 amp fast blow fuse and was found burned out. The parts manual specifies a 15 amp slow blow fuse. Corrosion deposits were found on the fuse and the fuse holder. No other discrepancies were found with the flap system. The fuse was replaced and the system functioned satisfactorily. An annual inspection was completed 1 month and 27 hours prior to the accident. The maintenance manual specifies that all fuses must be checked during each 50-hour and annual inspection. Cessna reported that during certification flight testing the Cessna 150H demonstrated the capability for a positive climb gradient of 175 feet per minute with full flaps at sea level on a standard day.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the flaps to retract due to the installation of an incorrect fuse and the inadequate maintenance/inspections performed on the system; and the pilot-in-command's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering for a forced landing, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/27/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1242 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN CARLOS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94070 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SAN CARLOS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SQL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 2 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1242 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SQL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 795 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 27 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7260S |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA248 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15067960 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 3 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 4890 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TIMOTHY J. GRAF |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2047 SHADOW PARK DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | TURLOCK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95380 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | TRANSAIR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 795 SKY WAY |
| Operator City | SAN CARLOS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94070 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SQL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | 30 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |