Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Placerville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Placerville, California 95667
Thursday, March 18, 2004 14:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with trees and terrain following a loss of engine power in the takeoff initial climb. The pilot reported that he had just dropped off a passenger and was repositioning the airplane to another airport. At 200 to 300 feet above ground level (agl) in the takeoff initial climb the engine lost power. He attempted to turn back to the runway but did not have enough altitude. He elected to stall the airplane into the trees on the south slope of the airport boundary. The accident was witnessed by personnel at the airport. The witnesses reported that the pilot was departing using runway 23, the airplane took off and did a steep, almost vertical ascent, and banked hard to the left (south). The pilot appeared to stall the airplane, as it went into the trees on the south side of the runway. The pilot held an airframe and powerplant mechanic certificate and was the primary maintainer of the airplane. Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the wreckage at the accident scene and Safety Board investigators later examined the wreckage following recovery. Disassembly of the gascolator revealed that both the upper and lower gaskets in the gascolator were 1/8 to 3/16 inches smaller in diameter than the gascolator canister and the top and bottom covers. The investigators observed that in order to affect a seal, both gaskets had to be centered when installed. Both gaskets were off center. No fuel was observed in the fuel lines and the manifold valve was disassembled and found to be dry and void of any fuel. The manifold valve body and screen were clean. No other discrepancies were found during the engine examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of engine power due to an improperly sized and installed set of sealing gaskets in the gascolator, which resulted in fuel starvation. A factor to the accident was the unsuitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/18/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Placerville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95667 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384316N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204531W |
| Event Location Airport | PLACERVILLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVF |
| 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 | 2583 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1430 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1536 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19004 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP- FSDO- Oakland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N369BZ |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA166 |
| 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 | Globe |
| Aircraft Model | GC-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1302 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1970 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 1655 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Miguel E. Nelson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cameron Park |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95682 |
| 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 | PVF |
| Departure City | PLACERVILLE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | O61 |
| Destination City | CAMERON PARK |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 18 2005 4:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |