Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Calif City Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
California City, California 93505
Wednesday, September 6, 1989 10:09 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE STUDENT PILOT ON HER SECOND SOLO CROSS COUNRTY EXPERIENCED A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB. SHE MADE THREE ATTEMPTS TO LAND ON THE TAKEOFF RUNWAY, EACH TIME FLYING A LEFT TRAFFIC PATTERN THAT WAS LOWER THAN THE PRECEDING PATTERN. GROUND WITNESSES SAW THE AIRCRAFT FLY PATTERNS THAT WERE 'LOW, CLOSE AND WITH TIGHT BASE TO FINAL TURNS.' ON EACH BASE TO FINAL TURN, THE AIRCRAFT OVERSHOT THE TURN DUE TO A STRONG LEFT CROSS WIND. DURING THE THIRD BASE TO FINAL TURN, THE WITNESSES SAW THE AIRCRAFT ENTER A VERY STEEP BANK, STALL, AND HIT THE GROUND ON THE LEFT WING TIP. A POST CRASH FIRE DESTROYED THE AIRCRAFT. NO EVIDENCE OF A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE WAS FOUND. FOUR OF THE SPARK PLUGS FAILED A PRESSURE CHAMBER TEST, WITH THREE OF THEM SHOWING GAPS IN EXCESS OF .022' (NORMAL GAP IS .016) AND WERE VERY WORN. REVIEW OF THE MAINTENANCE RECORDS SHOWED THAT THE MAINTENANCE FACILITY ONLY REPLACED SPARK PLUGS ON A ONE FOR ONE BASIS INSTEAD OF IN COMPLETE SETS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE STUDENT PILOT TO MAINTAIN A PROPER AIRSPEED WHILE MANEUVERING FOR AN EMERGENCY LANDING. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE THE PARTIAL ENGINE POWER LOSS, WHICH WAS DUE TO IMPROPER MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES, THE STUDENT PILOT'S INEXPERIENCE, THE STRONG CROSS WIND, AND THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/6/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1009 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | CALIFORNIA CITY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93505 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CALIF CITY MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L71 |
| 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 | 2437 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 952 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 187 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2347 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| 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) | 75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5000 |
| 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) | 2237 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 6 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1043 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41998 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N28493 |
| NTSB Number | LAX89FA296 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5B-0545 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | 4821 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RONALD A. LA RUE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 1975 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE HAVASU CTY |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86403 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SUSSEX AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7155 VALJEAN AVENUE |
| Operator City | VAN NUYS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 91406 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | L71 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1005 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VNY |
| Destination City | VAN NUYS |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 6035 |
| Runway Width | 55 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |