Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Lake Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
S. Lake Tahoe, California 96157
Wednesday, July 7, 1999 20:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the pilot was returning to the airport to land, a loss of engine power was experienced. An unsuccessful attempt was made to restart the engine, and an off-field landing was made. The pilot said that he was slow during the turn from base to final and the airplane entered a high descent rate, which culminated in a hard touchdown. No discrepancies were noted with the instruments during the flight by the pilot. An inspection of the maintenance records revealed that the airplane had not flown since 1996. In 1997, the airplane had been destroyed in a hangar roof cave-in, and rebuilt. It was noted that the airplane had not received a Condition Inspection since the Special Airworthiness Certificate and Operating Limitations were issued on September 14, 1995. The engine manufacturer recommends an engine inspection after 12 months of non-usage, and no such inspection was accomplished. Examination of the airplane revealed fuel in the tanks and sufficient electrical energy in the battery to run the electronic ignition. The fuel pump activated when placed in the ON position. No mechanical malfunctions were found during a teardown of the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/7/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | S. LAKE TAHOE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96157 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TVL |
| 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 | 1947 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6264 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1700 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 7 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2210 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 14 2001 2:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N790GS |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA246 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Smith |
| Aircraft Model | AVID STOL HAULER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AVID STOL |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 790 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1105 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 11 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 76 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GREGORY R. SMITH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 6602 |
| Aircraft Owner City | S. LAKE TAHOE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96157 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TVL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 14 2001 10:25AM |
| 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 | -- |