Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Diego Brown Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Diego, California 92173
Saturday, January 25, 1997 10:38 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to pilots who were familiar with the experimental aircraft, the engine had a history of power loss events dating back several months prior to the accident flight. On the day of the accident, the CFI and the dual student/aircraft owner had completed two touch-and-go landings and were on crosswind leg when the engine abruptly quit. A crash and postcrash fire resulted from the ensuing forced landing. A postcrash investigation revealed that a check valve was present in the engine fuel system to provide fuel under pressure to the carburetor when the electric boost pump was operating. The check valve was disassembled and was found to have no internal components. This permitted the fuel to circulate back to the fuel pump inlet and interfered with fuel flow to the carburetor.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Installation by the pilot/owner of an unairworthy check valve in the fuel system of the amateur built aircraft, which resulted in inadequate fuel flow to the engine and subsequent engine failure. A factor in the accident was the owner's operation of the aircraft with known deficiencies.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1038 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SAN DIEGO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92173 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SAN DIEGO BROWN FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SDM |
| 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 | 30 |
| Airport Elevation | 524 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1051 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SDM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 524 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 289 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 25 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40918 |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA092 |
| 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 | Crane |
| Aircraft Model | THORP T-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | THORP T-18 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 |
| 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 3 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARVIN A. CRANE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10234 PARKDALE AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92126 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SDM |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1036 |
| 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 | 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 | 26R |
| Runway Length | 7999 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |