Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Miami, Florida 33109
Sunday, October 19, 1997 10:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 10 minutes into the flight, at a cruise altitude of 1000 feet, the pilot experienced a loss of engine power. He radioed a 'mayday' call and selected a nearby golf course for an emergency landing. The airplane collided with a palm tree during the emergency landing roll. Examination of the engine assembly revealed that number one cylinder lower spark plug was partially separated from the cylinder. During the subsequent engine teardown, the number one exhaust valve head was recovered from inside the cylinder. The examination also of the exhaust valve stem and the and the valve stem keepers showed excessive wear. The valve stem keepers had also separated from their normally installed positions. A review of the aircraft maintenance logs disclosed that the engine had undergone several major engine repairs, involving the valve assemblies, within the last ten years. An engine top overhaul was completed 370 hours before this accident. The engine had accumulated a total of 5,603 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
excessive wear to the number one valve stem and valve stem keepers that resulted in the separation of the valve assembly.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/19/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MIAMI |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33109 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 950 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1700 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1171 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 19 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1135 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7814U |
| NTSB Number | ATL98LA003 |
| 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 | 150M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 150-77847 |
| 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 | Mar 4 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 90 |
| Airframe Hours | 5603 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | N718U |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6301 SW 6TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | PEMBROKE PINE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WILLIAM B. TINKHAM |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 847 NE 119TH STREET |
| Operator City | MIAMI |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33161 |
| 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 | HWO |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MTH |
| Destination City | MARATHON |
| Destination State | FL |
| 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 | -- |