Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palmdale, California 93590
Wednesday, November 26, 1997 8:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot received a weather briefing using DUATS and departed the airport with no discrepancies noted with the aircraft or engine. Once airborne he activated his IFR flight plan with FSS and received his IFR clearance 10 miles north of Palmdale. He climbed to his assigned altitude of 8,000 feet msl, noted that the outside air temperature gage read +2 degrees Celsius and he turned on pitot heat. Over Palmdale he encountered IMC conditions that included heavy rain, moderate turbulence and updrafts. He reduced the power and approximately 1 minute later there was a loss of engine power. The pilot completed the emergency checklist and made two attempts to restart the engine. He declared an emergency and was provided with radar vectors to Palmdale. After touchdown in a soggy field the nose gear came off and the aircraft came to rest inverted. The aircraft recovery personnel noted that conditions at the site were 45 degrees Fahrenheit with rain and sleet. They also noted that there was a piece of ice the size of a snowball covering the fuel vent. Weather in the vicinity of Palmdale at the time of the accident was reported as 1 mile visibility with rain and a broken ceiling of 3,000 feet msl. The weather reported the previous hour was 10 miles visibility with few clouds at 3,000 feet msl and scattered at 5,000 feet msl. PIREPS in the Palmdale vicinity indicated moderate rime ice ranging in altitude from 11,000 to 21,000 feet msl by commercial aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power due to icing conditions which plugged the fuel system vent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/26/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 845 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | PALMDALE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93590 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 855 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PMD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2543 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| 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) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 35 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 40 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| 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) | 1726 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 26 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 925 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3543Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA047 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18254443 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 59 |
| Airframe Hours | 5095 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VAN AND EMIKO PRAY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8441 CHARLES PLACE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CALIFORNIA CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93505 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | VAN M. PRAY JR. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | L71 |
| Departure City | CALIFORNIA CITY |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VNY |
| Destination City | VAN NUYS |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 | -- |