Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ramona, California 92065
Saturday, March 3, 2001 9:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the engine lost power while in cruise flight. He attempted to land in a small canyon, or ravine area, and was unable to avoid a single tree that was directly in front of him in the center of the ravine. The left wing struck the tree and the right wing was bent when it struck the ground. The pilot, who is also the builder of the airplane, inspected the engine and found a broken crankshaft at the number 1 piston rod attach point. The engine had oil and no other anomalies were observed. The pilot reported that the engine was overhauled 20 hours prior to the accident. The manufacturer of the engine stated that the engine life for this model is 300 hours or 5 years. The engine in the accident airplane was manufactured on March 10, 1991. The manufacturer said they have no service history of crankshaft failures in this particular model engine. The crankshaft is required to be replaced at each overhaul. The engine was overhauled at a facility that only provides engines for ultralight aircraft. The owner of the facility stated that he does not approve of the use of his engines in certified airplanes. He said he recalled overhauling this engine but could not remember the date, and does not believe the crankshaft was replaced. The crankshaft was not provided for metallurgical examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The in-flight failure of the engine crankshaft for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/3/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Ramona |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92065 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CRQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 328 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10280 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1308 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO San Diego, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N12FC |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA107 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Christian |
| Aircraft Model | Rans S-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1091137 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 975 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 320 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Fred M. Christian |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ramona |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92065 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | Barona |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 13 2001 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |