Little River Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Manchester, California 95459
Sunday, August 15, 2004 13:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with transmission wires and terrain during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot said that while in cruise flight, the engine began a serve vibration and then "exploded." The pilot maneuvered the airplane in a gliding configuration and selected a field to execute a forced landing. While on a final approach to the selected landing surface, the airplane collided with transmission lines and continued to descend toward the field, touching down hard. The top spark plug was absent from the right rear cylinder [the number one cylinder] and several ignition leads were loose. The engine had undergone an annual inspection 1.97 hours prior to the accident. The pilot opined that the accident could have been prevented if the spark plug had been tightened or properly torqued.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

maintenance personnel's failure to adequately torque the top spark plug on the number one cylinder, which resulted in a separation of that plug and a loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/15/2004
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Manchester
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95459
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390046N
Event Location Longitude 1232258W
Event Location Airport Little River Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O48
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 22
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 572
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1256 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID UKI
Elevation of weather observation facility 625
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 27
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) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 14
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
Density Altitude (feet) 2407
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) 18807
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 15 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1345
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 9 2012 9:03AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Oakland, CA FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N11037
NTSB Number LAX04LA292
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 American Champion (ACAC)
Aircraft Model 7ECA
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 22
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
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 Jul 9 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1.97
Airframe Hours 1516.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard W. Ahrens
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Little River
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95456
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 No
Departure Airport Code O48
Departure City Little River
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code O48
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Sep 20 2005 4:18PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --