Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alpine, California 90901
Monday, March 3, 1997 14:38 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilots were conducting flight instructor training and practicing power on and power off aerodynamic stalls of the airplane. After performing a spin recovery during an uncoordinated stall, the engine lost power. The pilots were unable to get the engine restarted and forced landed the airplane on a road with a 90-degree turn. The airplane ground looped and struck a fence when the left wheel went into the soft shoulder while exiting the 90-degree turn. The engine had been recently overhauled during which time the airframe was stored. There were two previous occasions where the airplane's engine quit after the engine was reinstalled in the airframe. On the first occasion maintenance personnel increased the idle rpm, and on the second occasion they replaced the fuel servo, which had recently been overhauled with the engine. The engine was run on the airframe after the accident. There was no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction found with the engine. Particle contamination was found in the fuel in the header tank. The inverted fuel vent was found to be over 50 percent obstructed at an elbow fitting with a solid material that covered the inlet. During the examination, another particle fell out of the elbow. The shape of the particle conformed to the shape of the unobstructed portion of the elbow inlet and the edge of the obstruction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation caused by an obstruction in the fuel vapor return system. An additional causal finding is the failure of maintenance personnel to properly troubleshoot a discrepancy with the fuel system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/3/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1438 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | ALPINE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90901 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1438 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 385 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 600 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 29 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 297 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1515 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5027F |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA117 |
| 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 | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 8KCAB |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 8KCAB |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 571-79 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 4 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 1742 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMOIA, STEVEN M. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7554 HIGH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | LA MESA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91941 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SCANDANAVIAN FLIGHT ACADEMY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8665 GIBBS DRIVE, SUITE 100 |
| Operator City | SAN DIEGO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92123 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYF |
| Departure City | SAN DIEGO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |