Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Decorah Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Decorah, Iowa 52101
Sunday, August 22, 2004 13:35 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed when it impacted the ground about 5 miles north of the departure airport. The pilot received serious injuries and the 2 passengers were fatally injured. The pilot reported that he had no recollection of the flight subsequent to announcing his intention to takeoff on the radio. He made no mention of any discrepancies detected during the pre-flight inspection or the run-up. A witness reported hearing and seeing the accident airplane during taxi, run-up, and takeoff. He stated that the rpm drop during the run-up was very high in comparison to the allowable rpm drop. The witness stated that he saw the takeoff and, based on his experience of operating a similar model airplane, the accident airplane was not accelerating as he would expect. He stated that the sound of the engine was smooth, but that he did not believe that it was developing full power during the takeoff. He further stated that the airplane's acceleration was not fast enough for a normal takeoff. The witness stated that he observed no attempt to stop or slow the airplane. He stated that he observed the airplane rotate twice and then lifted about 3 feet off of the runway before it came back down left wing high and subsequently bounced into the air. He stated that at this point, the airplane was now over the end of the runway. The witness stated that he was alarmed that the airplane was not gaining altitude and he then lost sight of it behind some large trees. He stated that he believed that continued flight would not be possible due to the degraded performance. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the contact points for the left magneto were not opening during rotation of the magneto's input shaft. The mounting screws were able to be turned with minimal effort. The investigation did not reveal when maintenance was last performed on the magneto's points. No other pre-impact discrepencies were found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's intentional operation of the airplane with a defective magneto, his failure to abort the takeoff due to degraded aircraft performance, and his failure to obtain or maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall/spin and subsequent impact with the ground. Contributing factors were the improper installation of the magneto's contact points by unknown entities due to undertorque of the mounting screws which led to the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1335 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Decorah |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 52101 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 432115N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0914560W |
| Event Location Airport | DECORAH MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DEH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1157 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1157 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19716 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 22 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Des Moines, Iowa |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5410T |
| NTSB Number | CHI04FA234 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251310 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3955 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David D. Olson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6367 Stevens Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wahkon |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56386 |
| 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 | DEH |
| Departure City | Decorah |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MY72 |
| Destination City | Isle |
| Destination State | MN |
| 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 | Mar 17 2006 12:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 4001 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |