Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
So County /Santa Clara Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Martin, California 95046
Friday, April 9, 2004 13:19 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with a fence during a forced landing due to loss of engine power in the takeoff initial climb. The airplane had not been flown for about 6 weeks. The owner and pilot completed a thorough preflight inspection of the airplane, with special attention to the fuel samples. The pilot was unable to remember when the airplane's fuel tanks were last filled, but opined that it was also nearly 6 weeks previous. The pilot reported the quantity of the fuel tanks as more than 1/2 full, and the fuel samples were clear of water and debris. The pilot operated the engine for about 20 minutes, and then performed before takeoff checks. The pilot stated that all engine and fuel system indications were normal. During initial climb after takeoff, the airplane's engine experienced a loss of power, resulting in a forced landing. During recovery of the airplane, fuel was found in one tank, the other tank had ruptured with evidence of fuel spillage on the ground underneath.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1319 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Martin |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95046 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 370454N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213549W |
| Event Location Airport | So County Airport/Santa Clara |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E16 |
| 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 | 281 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1247 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RHV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 133 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 869 |
| 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) | 17986 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 4 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO San Jose, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25645 |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA182 |
| 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-38-112 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38-81A0034 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | May 30 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 4800 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bill Bryes |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Martin |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94403 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | E16 |
| Departure City | San Martin |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1319 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | E16 |
| Destination City | San Martin |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2005 4:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |