Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Essex, California 92332
Friday, March 9, 2001 9:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane did not return to the departure airport and an ELT signal directed searchers to the wreckage. The airplane had impacted a steep rock face near the top of a 4,900-foot mountain. Witnesses reported that, about the time of the accident, the mountain tops in the area were obscured in clouds above about 4,000 feet. The wreckage showed the airplane had "pancaked" against the side of the mountain while in a 45-degree left bank. Both communication radios were tuned to the emergency frequency. During the wreckage examination, the fuel injection flow divider diaphragm was found to have a tear in it. A tear in the diaphragm during flight would cause the engine to abruptly and completely cease operating. Examination of the diaphragm revealed that the Dacron fabric was not centered in the elastomer as called for in the manufacturer's drawing. The lack of centering in the elastomer led to micro buckling failure of the Dacron fibers due to tensile fatigue.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Rupture of the fuel injection flow divider diaphragm due to improper manufacture of the raw material stock from which the diaphragm was fabricated. The diaphragm tear resulted in complete engine power loss, which required the pilot to descend into an undercast. The undercast obscured the mountain, which the airplane impacted. A factor in the accident was the manufacturer's inadequate quality control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/9/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Essex |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92332 |
| 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 | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 42 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EED |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 983 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12532 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 10 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1231 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2002 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Riverside, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1965H |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA113 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R7780211 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 193 |
| Airframe Hours | 4928 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aero Alliance LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3390 Auto Mall Dr. Ste 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Westlake Village |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91362 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jay Black |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Granda Hills |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | AO9 |
| Departure City | Bullhead City |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Unknown |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2002 5:41PM |
| 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 | -- |