Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Rosa, California 95403
Saturday, January 17, 2004 15:25 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The engine lost power and the airplane nosed over during a forced landing in a field. Post accident examination revealed that the number 2 cylinder separated from the engine. The engine had accumulated 900 hours since its last major overhaul 13 years prior to the accident; the cylinder had accumulated 1,212 hours since replacement in 1986. The hours on the cylinder prior to that time could not be determined. A metallurgical examination found that the barrel failed due to a fatigue crack. The barrel fractured circumferentially between the 11th and 13th fin from the head. The fracture initiated approximately 1.8 inches below the head and started from the inner diameter below a plated region. The initiation area was a small, flat, thumbnail-shaped region approximately 0.5-inch wide through the wall thickness, with signatures indicative of fatigue. Multiple crack initiation sites were observed in the origin area. From the initiation point, the fracture continued propagating in the circumferential direction with coarse arrest marks over approximately 45 percent of the barrel circumference. No material, manufacture, or plating defects were found. The metallurgical examination could not determine why the cracking occurred at the given location; however, it occurred below the chrome plating. From this, it is possible that the barrel exhausted the available fatigue life at that location, which was lowered by the presence of plating.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the number 2 cylinder barrel due to fatigue. The lack of suitable landing terrain was a factor in the accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/17/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1525
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Santa Rosa
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95403
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383032N
Event Location Longitude 1124846W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID KSTS
Elevation of weather observation facility 125
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17756
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 17 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1725
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 8 2005 12:51PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-OAK-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2502C
NTSB Number LAX04LA100
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 170B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 26146
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
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 Apr 22 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 52.6
Airframe Hours 5228
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James Frazier
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Sebastopol
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95472
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 STS
Departure City Santa Rosa
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1505
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 Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 25 2005 4:51PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --