Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Avenal, California 93204
Monday, August 25, 2003 13:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane veered off the runway and nosed over during a precautionary landing at a private airstrip. The landing was precipitated by a partial loss of engine power. The pilot stated that 5 minutes after departure, at an altitude of 500 feet, he heard "a loud noise" from the engine with an ensuing reduction in power. By manipulating the carburetor heat control he regained some power. He landed at the first available landing site, which was a small private airstrip. During the landing roll the airplane veered right, the pilot corrected to the left, and the airplane departed the runway and into soft ground on the left side of the airstrip. The airplane nosed over onto its back. Meteorological data recorded at the nearest reporting station at the approximate time of the accident show that the temperature was 95 degrees Fahrenheit, with a dew point of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. A standard carburetor icing chart indicated that at those temperature and dew point levels, light carburetor icing was possible when in the glide or cruise power configurations. Under the supervision of a FAA inspector, an Airframe & Powerplant mechanic examined the engine and found no anomalies. The mechanic was then able to start the engine and achieved 800-900 rpm before shutting the engine down due to vibrations caused by the bent propeller.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during a precautionary landing. The reason for the partial loss of engine power was undetermined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/25/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1335 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Avenal |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93204 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 119536WW |
| Event Location Airport | Private Airstrip |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KL45 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 376 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| 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) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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) | 16131 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 25 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO--Fresno, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2567L |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA265 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-8109014 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 985.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CJ Ritchie Farms |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11878 Ave 328 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tulare |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93291 |
| 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 | L84 |
| Departure City | Lost Hills |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Kettleman City |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2004 5:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |