Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hawthorne Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hawthorne, California 90250
Saturday, August 26, 1989 12:26 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN DURING AN AIRSHOW THE ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGH AND THE PILOT DETECTED A HOT OIL SMELL. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE ENGINE SEIZED AND THE PILOT LANDED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY IN A GRADED CONSTRUCTION AREA. AN FAA INSPECTOR MONITORING THE AIRSHOW ARRIVED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND FOUND THE PROPER QUANTITY OF OIL IN THE TANK AND NOTED THE OIL WAS COLD TO THE TOUCH. DETAILED EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED EXTENSIVE HEAT SIGNATURES, GALLING OF THE FRONT BEARING AND METAL PARTICLES DISTRIBUTED IN THE OIL SUMP; ALL CHARACTERISTICS OF OIL STARVATION. THE OIL PASSAGES AND OIL PUMP WERE NORMAL. EXAMINATION OF THE OIL TANK REVEALED THAT IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH AN OIL SHUT OFF VALVE. THE VALVE IS NORMALLY TURNED OFF AFTER EVERY FLIGHT. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE IS SURE HE TURNED THE VALVE ON PRIOR TO THE FLIGHT, HOWEVER, THE POSITION OF THE VALVE WAS NOT DOCUMENTED AT THE ACCIDENT SITE AND THE PRE IMPACT POSITION COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED WITH CERTAINTY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
OIL STARVATION OF THE ENGINE DUE TO THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO TURN THE OIL TANK SUPPLY VALVE ON PRIOR TO FLIGHT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/26/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1226 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | HAWTHORNE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90250 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HAWTHORNE MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HHR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 63 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1226 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 63 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1048 |
| 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) | 1989 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 26 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1332 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41185 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N59466 |
| NTSB Number | LAX89LA288 |
| 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 | RYAN |
| Aircraft Model | ST3KR |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | ST3KR |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1604 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1860 |
| 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 | Oct 27 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 1548 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STEVEN KRATTIGER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 24076 ROTUNDA ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | VALENCIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91355 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HHR |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1210 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | HHR |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 4956 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |