Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palo Alto Apt Of Santa Cl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palo Alto, California 94303
Friday, April 14, 2000 15:47 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine oil was changed and it was the operator's practice, following maintenance, to fly the aircraft before releasing it for student use. The pilot/flight instructor told the operator that the start, taxi, and run-up were normal. The engine operated smoothly until, at 300 feet agl on takeoff climb out, the engine quit abruptly, regained power, then quit again. The pilot attempted to return to the departure runway but landed short in a marsh area. At the accident site, the propeller did not appear to have been turning on impact. There was fuel in both wing tanks and there was no contamination at the sumps. The emergency responders had instructed the pilot to turn the fuel selector to the 'off' position. The fuel pump functioned audibly. There was clean oil in the engine and the engine rotated freely with good compression. After recovery, the cowling was removed and the engine was examined. No anomalies were noted. The propeller was replaced and the carburetor heat box was removed due to damage. The engine started promptly, the run-up was normal, and the engine delivered full power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons during takeoff climb.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1547 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PALO ALTO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94303 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | PALO ALTO APT OF SANTA CL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAO |
| 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 | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 3 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1550 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 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) | 10111 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 14 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1645 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81019 |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA154 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 288016098 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 70 |
| Airframe Hours | 5893 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICHARD DOERR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | MENLO PARK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94025 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PALO ALTO FLYING CLUB |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1903 EMBARCADERO RD. |
| Operator City | PALO ALTO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94303 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PAO |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 15 2001 4:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 65 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |