General William J Fox Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Palmdale, California 93550
Sunday, August 5, 2001 20:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane experienced a loss of engine power in the aft engine and collided with a guardrail during an off-airport emergency landing on a highway. The pilot flew the airplane earlier that afternoon with no mechanical discrepancies noted. After takeoff and leveling off at 4,500 feet, the pilot thought he noticed a loss of engine power in both engines because he was unable to maintain altitude. A forced landing was performed on a highway and the airplane went through a guardrail. A post accident examination revealed the primers were left unlocked with the aft engine primer pulled out approximately 1 inch. Black sooty deposits were discovered on the rear engine spark plugs. The primer is as an optional feature to assist in cold weather operations.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the primer controls, resulting in excessive fuel flow, spark plug fouling, and loss of engine power in the aft engine.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/5/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 2015
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Palmdale
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93550
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 343141N
Event Location Longitude 1180649W
Event Location Airport General William J Fox Airfield
Event Location Nearest Airport ID WJF
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 15
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 2348
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 170
Weather Observation Facility ID PMD
Elevation of weather observation facility 2543
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night
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) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) 5065
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15290
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 5 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2115
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2004 3:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-VNY-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3838U
NTSB Number LAX01FA271
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 336
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 336-0138
Certified Max Gross Weight 3900
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 5
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 44
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Robert Howard
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Arcadia
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91006
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 WJF
Departure City Lancaster
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2000
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code EMT
Destination City El Monte
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb - to cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2004 12:16PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --