Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blue Canyon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Emigrant Gap, California 95715
Saturday, August 28, 1999 13:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was at cruise altitude of 9,500 feet when he heard a loud metallic bang. The airframe began to shake violently and the engine started running rough immediately following the noise. The pilot turned toward a nearby airport and the engine suddenly quit. The pilot was able to glide to the airport and touched down on the 3,300-foot-long runway; however, he had carried extra speed on the approach to allow a maneuvering margin to miss a large ravine off the runway's approach end. The airplane ran off the end of the runway and subsequently struck scrub bush. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the number three cylinder had separated in half between the Nos. 9 and 10 cooling fins. Metallurgical examination disclosed that the fracture was due to a fatigue crack, which had emanated from a notch and groove on the outer radius of one cooling fin. The notch and groove were painted the same color as the engine. The engine was overhauled 16 hours prior to the accident with 3 new cylinders installed, including the failed one.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure and separation of the number three cylinder due to the cylinder overhaul facility's improper inspection and quality control processes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1310 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | EMIGRANT GAP |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95715 |
| 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 | BLUE CANYON AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KBLU |
| 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 | 330 |
| Airport Elevation | 5284 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1252 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5284 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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 | 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) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1819 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 28 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4201S |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA287 |
| 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 | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20J |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-0573 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 25 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 4889 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RESORT AUTOMATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. BOX 6087 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TAHOE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96145 |
| 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 | KWGF |
| Departure City | PALMDALE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1110 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KTRK |
| Destination City | TRUCKEE |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 3300 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |