French Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Temecula, California 92589
Friday, July 24, 1998 12:28 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot initiated a go-around at 50 to 75 feet agl due to excessive airspeed, and as he applied full throttle, the engine went to idle. He turned the aircraft toward a street and impacted the terrain about 1/2 mile from the airport. The Safety Board conducted a teardown inspection of the engine and discovered that the throttle linkage was disconnected. The bolt that connects the throttle cable to the throttle control rod end bearing was protruding out of the extension sleeve by only two threads. The aircraft had only flown approximately 1 hour since the annual inspection earlier in the month. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the aircraft prior to the accident sequence.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A partial loss of engine power due to a disconnected throttle linkage, which was the result of an inadequate maintenance installation/inspection.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/24/1998
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1228
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City TEMECULA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92589
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FRENCH VALLEY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID F70
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1347
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1155 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID RAL
Elevation of weather observation facility 816
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 29
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
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 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 --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1151
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 24 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1241
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:37AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2720V
NTSB Number LAX98LA243
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 Beech
Aircraft Model 35
Aircraft Series Identifier 35
Aircraft Serial Number D-97
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 623
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BILL WHITMAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 11 YOLO DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City PRESCOTT
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 86301
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 95L
Departure City PAUMA VALLEY
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code F70
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 18
Runway Length 4600
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --