Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yucapia, California 92399
Sunday, March 15, 1992 17:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
ALL 3 OCCUPANTS OF THE AIRCRAFT ARE PILOTS AND USAF OFFICERS. THEY SAID THAT AFTER TAKEOFF THEY WERE FLYING OVER A CANYON AREA ENROUTE TO A LOCAL PRACTICE AREA. ONCE OVER THE CANYON AREA AT 4,500 FT, THE PILOTS NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE WAS BEGINNING TO RUN SLIGHTLY ROUGH WITH A PERCEPTIBLE AND STEADY DECREASE IN RPM'S. THE RPM'S EVENTUALLY DECREASED TO 1,800 AND ALL ATTEMPTS TO CORRECT THE POWER LOSS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. THE AIRCRAFT WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN LEVEL FLIGHT AND HAD DESCENDED BELOW THE TOPS OF THE SURROUNDING RIDGES. THE PILOTS STATED THAT THE ONLY VIABLE OPTION OPEN TO THEM WAS TO CONTACT THE HILLSIDE IN A CONTROLLED MANNER. THE AIRCRAFT WAS STALLED INTO THE THICK BRUSH COVERED HILLSIDE. CRASH SITE INACCESSIBILITY PRECLUDED DETERMINATION OF THE FUEL SYSTEM CONTINUITY OR FUEL SUPPLY QUALITY. THE CARBURETOR, GASCOLATOR AND IGNITION LEADS WERE DESTROYED IN THE CRASH. DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED HEAVY SOOTING OF THE #1 TOP SPARK PLUG AND MODERATE EROSION AND GAS BLOW-BY OF THE PISTONS. COMPRESSION TESTS DURING THE LAST 100 HOUR INSPECTION SHOWED 3 CYLINDERS BELOW 60 PSI. THE LAST MAJOR OVERHAUL OF THE ENGINE WAS 25 YEARS AND 2,221 HOURS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE ENGINE MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDS A MAJOR OVERHAUL EVERY 2,000 HOURS OR FIVE YEARS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER MOST LIKELY RELATED TO THE POOR QUALITY OF AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR A FORCED LANDING.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | YUCAPIA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92399 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4000 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 286 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 46375 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 2:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5417T |
| NTSB Number | LAX92LA143 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251317 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 19 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 3276 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAVID W. LAWSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3375 FAIRVIEW DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | YUCAIPA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92399 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SKYWAYS FLIGHT TRAINING, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1745 SESSUMS DRIVE |
| Operator City | REDLANDS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92374 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | L12 |
| Departure City | REDLANDS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| 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 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |