Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spaulding Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Susanville, California 96130
Monday, May 31, 2004 10:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane descended into terrain shortly after takeoff while the pilot was attempting to return back to the airport. The airplane climbed to about 100 to 200 feet above ground level, and began a right turn back to the runway. The pilot made a radio transmission stating that he was returning to the airport, because he had mistakenly left the oil filler cap off of the engine, which was resulting in the windshield becoming obstructed with a layer of oil. The airplane descended into terrain about 300 yards south of the departure end of the runway at a wings level, 20-degree nose down attitude. First responders to the accident noted that the airplane's windshield was coated in a layer of oil. The pilot thought that the accident could have been prevented if he had remembered to replace the oil cap on the engine while performing his preflight inspection. He reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to perform a proper preflight inspection of the airplane and ensure that the oil cap was secured, which resulted in a descent into terrain due to his obstructed view out of the windshield.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Susanville |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96130 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403830N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204606W |
| Event Location Airport | Spaulding Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1Q2 |
| 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 | 5116 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1040 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SVE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4149 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| 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) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5482 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17988 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 31 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1115 |
| 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- Reno |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9816K |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA225 |
| 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 | Stinson |
| Aircraft Model | 108-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 108-2816 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2230 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 3070 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David S. Purvis |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fresno |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93728 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 1Q2 |
| Departure City | Susanville |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FCH |
| Destination City | FRESNO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 9 2005 3:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 4600 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |