Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rio Vista Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Vista, California 94571
Saturday, February 2, 2002 13:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The experimental, amateur-built airplane landed off-airport following a total loss of engine power on climbout. The pilot reported that during the initial climb after a slow-flight, low pass down the 4,200-foot-long runway and while about 200 feet above ground level, the engine lost all power although the propeller continued to windmill. After the accident, there was about 9 gallons of 100-octane aviation fuel aboard. Earlier the same day he had flown a prior flight leg on the same tank of fuel. The pilot suspected that carburetor icing was the cause of the engine loss of power. The airplane was equipped with a Mosler converted automotive engine, and was equipped with carburetor heat. The carburetor heat control was in the "on" position when engine power was lost. A generic carburetor icing probability chart used by the Safety Board showed the ambient temperature and dew point conditions to have been within the region marked "serious icing - cruise or climb power."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/2/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Rio Vista |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94571 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Rio Vista |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | O88 |
| 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 | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 20 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 15 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 24 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.22 |
| 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) | 14043 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 4 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 810 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Sacramento, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2221X |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA078 |
| 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 | Robinette |
| Aircraft Model | Ultra Pup |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | UP 0062 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 169 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gregg L. McCurdy |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Richmond |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94804 |
| 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 | O88 |
| Departure City | Rio Vista |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 22 2003 4:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |