Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winnemucca, Nevada 89445
Sunday, July 26, 1998 13:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had been on a cross-country flight, which was terminating at the accident airport. The airplane had undergone an annual inspection 3 weeks prior to the accident with no discrepancies noted. After reaching the accident airport environment, the pilot retarded the throttle and noted the airspeed was 120 knots with a loss of manifold pressure. The engine continued to run, but was not producing power. The landing gear is self-activating, and when the airplane slows below 105 knots indicated and the throttle is less than half full, the landing gear will automatically extend. A safety mechanism is in place, so if the throttle is full forward and the airspeed drops below 105 knots, the gear will not extend. The pilot contacted the tower to inform them of her situation, and that she would be able to make the airport with no further problems. Simultaneously, the airspeed fell below 105 knots and the landing gear extended with the throttle in the full forward position. When the airspeed fell below 80 knots, the pilot knew she was not going to clear the railroad tracks and power lines. She made a shallow left turn to fly underneath the power lines and attempted a forced landing on a road. Examination of the airplane revealed that the throttle cable rod end had separated from the throttle body attach point disconnecting the linkage between the throttle and engine. It was noted that the cotter key and jam nut were missing from the assembly and were unable to be located. Further investigation revealed that the throttle cable assembly had been replaced 7 months prior to the accident. It was also noted that the assembly was not from the manufacturer, but is widely used in the industry. The manufacturer reported that they do not authorize any substitutions of their parts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power due to a missing cotter key and jam nut, the use of an improper nonapproved part by other maintenance personnel, and failure to safety the installation which subsequently lead to a throttle/carburetor linkage disconnect.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1335 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | WINNEMUCCA |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89445 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | 1356 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WMC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4304 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1834 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 26 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1615 |
| 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 | N14692 |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA244 |
| 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 | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | BL-17 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BL-17 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 74-31093 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3325 |
| 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 | Jun 2 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BEN F. MORROW |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4715 POGONIP DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | WINNEMUCCA |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89445 |
| 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 | BOI |
| Departure City | BOISE |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | WMC |
| 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 | -- |