Napa County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Napa, California 94558
Monday, June 25, 2001 9:20 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the missed approach the engine lost power, was maneuvered to land, and came to rest inverted after the nose wheel touched down in soft dirt. The purpose of the flight was to conduct instrument training at local area airports. The flight had departed home base approximately an hour away from the accident airport. No discrepancies were noted with the engine during the flight or the approach to land. As the student reached MDA the CFI instructed the student to conduct the missed approach. They climbed straight ahead to 500 feet msl and initiated a left-hand turn for compliance with the missed approach procedure. The engine began to lose power. The CFI declared an emergency and conducted the emergency checklist. She turned towards the runway and slipped the airplane down land on the runway. Due to the altitude, she knew they would not make the runway, so she attempted to land in a grassy area past the departure end of the runway. Again, the airplane was too high for landing and she had to maneuver to avoid the airport perimeter fence. The CFI turned away from the fence. When she returned the airplane to wings level flight the wheels touched down. The nose wheel dug into the soft dirt and the airplane flipped over. Examination of the engine revealed that the exhaust push rod housing and exhaust push rod were bent. The crankshaft was manually rotated establishing valve training continuity. No further discrepancies were noted with the engine.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Loss of engine power due to the restricted movement of the number 1 exhaust valve that subsequently bent the exhaust push rod and push rod housing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/25/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 920
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Napa
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94558
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381200N
Event Location Longitude 1221600W
Event Location Airport NAPA COUNTY AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 33
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 925 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID APC
Elevation of weather observation facility 33
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11093
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 25 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1155
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 28 2001 7:25AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1409V
NTSB Number LAX01LA221
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17263554
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 May 25 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 83
Airframe Hours 5059
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Airline Transport Professionals Corp. of USA
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1313 N. Market Street, Suite 3410
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19801
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SAC
Departure City Sacramento
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 815
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code APC
Destination City Napa
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 10 2001 1:23PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36L
Runway Length 5931
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --