Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Johnson Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Johnson Valley, California 92285
Monday, August 2, 1999 13:32 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airstrip manager arrived at the airstrip and found the aircraft parked on the ramp. The pilot informed him that he had noticed a drop in oil pressure during his flight and had landed and 'fixed the problem.' The pilot asked for oil and the airport manager gave him 6 quarts of automotive oil. The manager saw the pilot pour 3 quarts of oil into the oil tank and put the additional 3 quarts of oil in the back of the aircraft cockpit. He hand-propped the aircraft and the engine fired immediately with no apparent difficulties. After the pilot took off, the manager noticed dark smoke coming from the exhaust. The airplane completed a crosswind and downwind traffic pattern leg, and appeared to be headed back toward the airport. The airstrip manager stated that as the airplane turned from base to final about 300 feet agl, it stalled, entered a 180-degree spin, and impacted the ground in a near vertical, nose down attitude. There were streaks of oil underneath the engine outward to the left wing and wheel pants, and the bottom of the fuselage was covered in oil. The oil line that provides the reading for the oil pressure gauge was found to be split approximately 180 degrees in circumference at the hose fitting, and was split in two other locations. The hose was a soft, pliable rubber material, and testing revealed that it was pressure-rated at 10 psi. Oil is pumped through the line about 40 to 45 psi during normal operations. The oil pressure hose fitting on the engine was not equipped with a restricted orifice to prevent the escape of fluid in case of line failure as required by regulation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed while attempting to make a precautionary landing, which resulted in a stall/spin and collision with the terrain. A factor in his failure to maintain an adequate airspeed is the pilot's likely diverted attention to the oil loss problem and pending engine failure. An additional factor is the pilot/mechanic's improper installation of an unapproved oil hose, which ruptured under pressure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/2/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1332 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | JOHNSON VALLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92285 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | JOHNSON VALLEY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6CA5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 3370 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NXP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1905 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6200 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1660 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 2 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N32409 |
| NTSB Number | LAX99FA261 |
| 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 | Porterfield |
| Aircraft Model | CP-65 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | CP-65 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 839 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | Nov 1 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55 |
| Airframe Hours | 2807 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LARRY TRAGER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 423 ELM STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | TEHACHAPI |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93561 |
| 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 | 6CA5 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TNP |
| Destination City | TWENTY NINE PAL |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 2800 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |