Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Maria Public Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Maria, California 93455
Sunday, November 22, 1992 13:21 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
TWELVE MINUTES AFTER DEPARTURE, THE LEFT ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGH & VIBRATE. THE PILOT SAID HE COULD NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM & SHUT THE LEFT ENGINE DOWN. NO EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED & THE PILOT TOLD ATC THAT HE WOULD CONTINUE TO HIS DESTINATION, 210 NM & 1.5 HOURS AWAY. THE PILOT OVERFLEW 5 AIRPORTS WITH RUNWAYS OVER 5,000 FT LONG & A MOUNTAIN RANGE. THE PILOT EXECUTED A VOR APPROACH & ENTERED AN EXTENDED DOWNWIND PATTERN. ON SHORT FINAL THE PILOT EXECUTED A GO AROUND BECAUSE HE DID NOT GET ANY GEAR DOWN INDICATIONS. HE THEN MANEUVERED FOR A DOWNWIND LANDING ON RUNWAY 12. THE AIRCRAFT HIT THE GROUND 100 YARDS SHORT OF THE RUNWAY, THEN COLLIDED WITH A DITCH & THE AIRPORT FENCE. AN FAA INSPECTOR SAID THERE WERE THREE CLEAR TIRE TRACKS FROM THE POINT OF TOUCHDOWN TO THE DITCH, WHERE THE GEAR WAS SHEARED OFF. HE FOUND NO PROBLEMS WITH THE GEAR SYSTEM. EXAM OF THE LEFT ENGINE REVEALED A LEFT MAGNETO INTERNAL FAILURE DUE TO LACK OF LUBRICATION & WEAR, WHICH CAUSED CYLINDER CROSS FIRING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
1) THE INTERNAL FAILURE OF THE LEFT ENGINE, LEFT MAGNETO DUE TO INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE AND NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE MANUFACTURERS SERVICE BULLETINS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, AND 2) THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ATTAIN THE PROPER TOUCHDOWN POINT DURING THE LANDING ATTEMPT. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE THE INABILITY OF THE PILOT TO SHUT OFF THE LEFT MAGNETO AND THE FALSE LANDING GEAR INDICATIONS, BOTH FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/22/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1321 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SANTA MARIA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93455 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SANTA MARIA PUBLIC |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SMX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 259 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1330 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 1 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 259 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 779 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 22 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1415 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 48243 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N52AK |
| NTSB Number | LAX93LA051 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 421C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 421C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 421C0204 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7450 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 16 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 128 |
| Airframe Hours | 4384 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FARROLL EQUIPMENT COMPNANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2460 GRACIA WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | ARROYO GRANDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93420 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FARROLL EQUIPMENT COMPNANY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2460 GRACIA WAY |
| Operator City | ARROYO GRANDE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93420 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TVL |
| Departure City | LAKE TAHOE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| 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 | 3 |
| Runway Length | 6300 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |