Ancient Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rosamond, California 93560
Sunday, October 14, 2001 11:03 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with terrain and nosed over during an attempted takeoff. The pilot reported that the airplane did not develop sufficient airspeed during the takeoff roll. At the decision point, the pilot noticed a berm that was 2-feet high at the end of the runway. He felt that he did not have enough room to stop so he proceeded at full power and "jerked" the airplane into the air. The airplane started to sink, and he applied full aft elevator. The airplane stalled about 2 feet above the ground, touched down again, and the right main gear struck a bush and sheared off. The airplane came to rest inverted and was consumed by post impact fire. A witness who purchased the engine from the pilot reported that the camshaft had a disintegrated bearing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to attain sufficient airspeed during the attempted takeoff, which resulted in a stall/mush. The airplane's failure to accelerate was due to a disintegrated bearing on the camshaft. The pilot's failure to make a timely abort decision was a factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/14/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1103
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City ROSAMOND
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93560
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 344400N
Event Location Longitude 1181300W
Event Location Airport Ancient Valley
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PVT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport 27
Airport Elevation 2000
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 160
Weather Observation Facility ID WJF
Elevation of weather observation facility 2347
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) 3642
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14622
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Oct 14 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1123
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 30 2003 8:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-VNY-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N735C
NTSB Number LAX02LA006
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 Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Stinson
Aircraft Model 108-3
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1083-735
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 40
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MARTIN B. PETRI
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City SIMI VALLEY
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93065
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 --
Departure City ROSAMOND
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1103
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O26
Destination City LONE PINE
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - aborted
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 17 2003 3:00PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length 2300
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --