Hawthorne Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hawthorne, California 90250
Friday, August 13, 1982 19:24 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE ACFT CRASHED ON FINAL APPROACH AFTER THE ENGINE LOST POWER. THE PLT STATED THAT ON FINAL THE ENGINE BACKFIRED, LOST POWER AND WOULD NOT RESPOND TO THROTTLE MOVEMENT. THE ENGINE HAD BEEN THE SUBJECT OF PREVIOUS WRITE-UPS & WORK ORDERS, WHICH INCLUDED FUEL PRESSURE FLUCTUATION, ROUGH ENGINE, BAD FUEL PUMP, ENGINE DIES AT IDLE AND RICH MIXTURE. ON THE DAY OF THE ACCCIDENT THE FUEL INJECTION UNIT WAS REMOVED FOR OVERHAUL AND REPLACED. DURING POST ACCIDENT TESTING THE ENGINE RAN BUT BECAME EXCESSIVELY RICH. MANUAL LEAN GAVE A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN RPM. LATER TESTING OF THE FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM REVEALED THE UNIT OPERATED ERRATICALLY AND WAS RICH AT LOWER PRESSURES.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/13/1982
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1924
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City HAWTHORNE
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90250
Event Date Year 1982
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport HAWTHORNE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HHR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 1900
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 80
Weather Observation Facility ID LAX
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 66
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) 0
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 3403
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information
Date of most recent change to record Dec 18 2002 11:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\GIUV
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9342C
NTSB Number LAX82FUD04
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-28R-201
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28R-201
Aircraft Serial Number 28R-7837192
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Unknown
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 61
Airframe Hours 1872
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name R.T.K. CHAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City
Aircraft Owner State
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name R.T.K. CHAN
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 Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code HHR
Departure City HAWTHORNE
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1850
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code HHR
Destination City HAWTHORNE
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 18 2002 4:50PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 25
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --