Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grand Canyon Natl. Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tusayan, Arizona 86023
Tuesady, August 3, 1999 14:07 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The cross-country flight departed Big Bear, California, with stops in Las Vegas, Nevada, Grand Canyon, Arizona, and returning to Big Bear. The accident departure from Grand Canyon National Park Airport was performed on runway 03; an 8,999-foot runway with a 0.8 percent up gradient (76-foot increase), and a density altitude of 8,800 feet msl. Witnesses reported that the airplane appeared to be slow, and barely cleared trees and buildings while climbing into mildly rising terrain. About 2 miles from the runway, the airplane was seen to roll to the left and descended into trees. The FAA Approved Flight Manual (AFM) for the accident airplane/performance data was not found at the accident site; however, a Cessna 337 Skymaster AFM was found. A California Airport Directory was also recovered. No Grand Canyon Airport information was found at the site other than the Las Vegas Sectional Chart airport information. Examination of the dual magneto revealed internal case corrosion on the left interior of the magneto. The right magneto was timed 22 degrees BTC instead of 25 degrees BTC. Test bench results indicated that the right magneto exhibited a weak spark. The massive electrode spark plugs exhibited a gap in excess of the recommended maximum gap for the plug. Cylinder plugs No. 1 and 2 were fuel sooted, No. 3 appeared lean, and No. 4 was slightly sooted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
was the pilot's failure to have available and consult the FAA approved flight manual for performance data and, the high density altitude. Contributing to the accident were the dual magneto and spark plug system issues affecting optimum engine performance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1407 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TUSAYAN |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86023 |
| 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 | GRAND CANYON NATL. PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GCN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 6606 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GCN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6606 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1661 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| 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 | N19113 |
| NTSB Number | LAX99FA262 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 177B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 177B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17702558 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 21 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 92 |
| Airframe Hours | 9432 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AERO HAVEN INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 2799 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BIG BEAR CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92314 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GCN |
| Departure City | GRAND CANYON |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1407 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L35 |
| Destination City | BIG BEAR |
| 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 | 3 |
| Runway Length | 8999 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |