Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Castle Air Force Base Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atwater, California 95301
Saturday, September 26, 1998 12:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine sputtered then quit as the pilot was initiating a turn to base. He landed hard on the runway and severed the right main landing gear. The aircraft continued forward on the runway, then impacted a runway light and veered off into a grassy area. An FAA inspector examined the engine and noted no external damage. The aircraft was equipped with a dual cased single-drive magneto and the maintenance records indicated that a 500-hour inspection had been performed on the magneto on June 13, 1998. The mechanic reported that he checked all the points for evidence of arcing and found none. He stated that he ran the magneto on a test bench and it ran normally. Postaccident examination of the magneto revealed that the right points did not open and the left points would close intermittently. It was further noted that the cam followers for both sides of the magneto were melted. Neither capacitor passed the insulation resistance test at 400 VDC. The magneto was test run with the original harness and capacitors attached. Both sides of the magneto generated sparks at 500 and 1,000 rpm. A 150-watt lamp was set up next to the magneto to simulate engine heat. The magneto was then run at a speed approximating cruise speed. After 5 minutes, the right magneto ceased to generate sparks. The left magneto generated sparks for the duration of the test. The pilot reported that he performed two magneto checks prior to takeoff, with no noted discrepancies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An internal capacitor failure and melting of the point cam followers, which resulted in failure of both magnetos, and subsequent total loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/26/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | ATWATER |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95301 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CASTLE AIR FORCE BASE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MER |
| 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 | 189 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1696 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 26 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1247 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N114AL |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA308 |
| 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 | Rockwell |
| Aircraft Model | COMMANDER 114 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | COMMANDER |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14023 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3140 |
| 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 | May 28 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 2882 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BILL MOLES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 320 NORTHRIDGE DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SCOTTS VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95066 |
| 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 | WVI |
| Departure City | WATSONVILLE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MER |
| 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 | 31 |
| Runway Length | 11802 |
| Runway Width | 300 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |