Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Penn Valley, California 95946
Sunday, March 23, 1997 8:49 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
No witnesses observed the aircraft when it impacted terrain in a pasture. A witness who lives about 1 mile from the accident site reported that the aircraft's engine was cutting out as it flew over his location. Another witness, inside his home near the accident site, did not hear the engine at all; he reported hearing only a whoosh and a thump. The pilot purchased the aircraft 7 months prior and this was his first flight in the aircraft. He had not had any checkout, and according to his logbook, had not piloted an aircraft in the previous 4 months. The last maintenance entry in the aircraft logbook was an annual inspection performed 18 months prior. A toxicology analysis performed by the FAA's Civil Aeromedical Institute detected impairing amounts of the drug Diphenhydramine in the pilot's blood and urine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Factors in the accident were the pilot's lack of recent experience, lack of experience in the type aircraft, and physical impairment due to drugs.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/23/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 849 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | PENN VALLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95946 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 855 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 236 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BAB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1150 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | 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) | 509 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 23 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| 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 | N4073T |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA131 |
| 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 | Zenair |
| Aircraft Model | 601 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 601 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1414 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 7 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 55 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MICHAEL E. RALLI |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 12808 FRANCIS DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRASS VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95949 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | O17 |
| Departure City | GRASS VALLEY |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| 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 | Cruise |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |