Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merced Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Merced, California 95340
Friday, August 31, 2001 14:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had departed the Merced airport approximately 1400. He climbed upwind until reaching an indicated altitude of 700 feet, and then began a left turn to 210 degrees for an on-course heading to Frazier Lake. At this point, he began to feel a slight loss of engine power, followed by a slow reduction of engine power, which eventually reached a nearly wind milling condition. He pumped the throttle, but the engine did not respond. He attempted to return to the airport, but realized he was too far away to land on the runway. He landed in a plowed field, where the airplane nosed over. According to the pilot, the wing tanks were empty at the time of departure, and the only tank in use was the fuselage tank. He stated that a possible cause of the engine failure was the use of a nonvented fuel tank cap. A post accident examination of the engine revealed the only discrepancy was a nonvented fuel cap on the fuselage tank. As fuel was being drained from the tank through the carburetor the drain flow ceased. The fuselage fuel tank cap was removed, a vacuum sound was heard, and the drain flow began again. The pilot stated he had switched the fuselage fuel tank cap prior to the last annual inspection that occurred 6 months and 8 hours prior to this flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper modification of the airplane when he switched a nonvented fuel cap to the fuselage tank. A factor was the inadequate annual inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/31/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Merced |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95340 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Merced |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MCE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 150 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 150 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 769 |
| 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) | 11602 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1626 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Fresno, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N22694 |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA296 |
| 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 | Funk Aircraft Co. |
| Aircraft Model | C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 19 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Peter D. Talbot |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Saratoga |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95070 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MCE |
| Departure City | Merced |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1C9 |
| Destination City | Hollister |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 10 2002 4:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 5903 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |