St. John Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Reserve, Louisiana 70076
Sunday, July 19, 1992 18:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT EXPERIENCED A COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE AFTER TAKEOFF WHILE PASSING THROUGH 200 FEET AGL. THE AIRPLANE SUBSEQUENTLY LANDED IN A ROUGH OPEN FIELD AS THERE WAS NO OTHER SUITABLE TERRAIN. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE NO. 1 CYLINDER EXHAUST VALVE HAD SEPARATED AND THE STEM WAS INGESTED INTO THE ENGINE. THE VALVE HEAD WAS FOUND IMBEDDED IN THE PISTON HEAD. DUE TO THE LEVEL OF DAMAGE SUSTAINED BY THE VALVE PARTS, THE EXACT FAILURE MODE COULD NOT BE DETERMINED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO THE VALVE FAILURE. A FACTOR WAS THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR THE FORCED LANDING.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/19/1992
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City RESERVE
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70076
Event Date Year 1992
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ST. JOHN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0LA4
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 270
Airport Elevation 9
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1750 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 115
Weather Observation Facility ID MSY
Elevation of weather observation facility 4
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
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) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
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 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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2593
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 19 1992 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 47318
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 3:05PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N89970
NTSB Number FTW92LA181
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 120
Aircraft Series Identifier 120
Aircraft Serial Number 9088
Certified Max Gross Weight 1450
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 19 1992 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 60
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HICKS, TIMOTHY J.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 307 W. MICHIGAN
Aircraft Owner City HAMMOND
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70401
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name HICKS, TIMOTHY J.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 307 W. MICHIGAN
Operator City HAMMOND
Operator State LA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 70401
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code 0LA4
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 0LA4
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --