Salinas Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salinas, California 93905
Friday, January 9, 1998 17:56 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a night-time flight in marginal VFR conditions, the pilot radioed approach control that his aircraft's engine had begun running rough, losing power, and he was having difficulty maintaining altitude. Approach control vectored the pilot 14 miles back to the airport where he had previously completed an instrument approach. The pilot reported the runway in sight, however, the aircraft crashed on final approach 2 miles from the runway. A witness reported hearing the aircraft's engine as it approached, followed by 5 seconds of silence, and then the sound of impact. An annual inspection was completed on the aircraft about 2 weeks before the accident and this was believed to be the owner's first flight after the inspection. During the inspection, the Nos. 1, 3, and 4 cylinders were removed from the engine and repaired. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that one of the two valve keepers had not been reinstalled on the No. 3 cylinder exhaust valve resulting in asymmetric loading of the remaining keeper. When that keeper fractured, the exhaust valve was released and entered the combustion chamber of the No. 3 cylinder where it contacted the piston. The consequential damage fractured the Nos. 3 and 4 pistons, the Nos. 3 and 4 connecting rods, and the crankcase.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to a missing valve keeper. Also causal was the failure by engine maintenance personnel during engine top overhaul to install the second valve keeper in the No. 3 cylinder exhaust valve and the failure of inspection personnel to detect the improper assembly.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/9/1998
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1756
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City SALINAS
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93905
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SALINAS MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SNS
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 3
Degrees magnetic from airport 153
Airport Elevation 84
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1800 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 153
Weather Observation Facility ID SNS
Elevation of weather observation facility 84
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 2000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 1683
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 9 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1841
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 10:39AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8158M
NTSB Number LAX98FA068
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 182P
Aircraft Series Identifier 182P
Aircraft Serial Number 18264550
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RICHARD H. GRAFF
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 855
Aircraft Owner City SOLEDAD
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93960
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 SQL
Departure City SAN CARLOS
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code
Destination City SOLEDAD
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 31
Runway Length 4825
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --