Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Petaluma Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Petaluma, California 94954
Wednesday, February 9, 2005 16:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft stalled, entered a spin, and descended to ground impact following a loss of engine power in the takeoff initial climb. During the climb out following a touch-and-go, the airplane's engine sputtered and backfired. The airplane made a low and tight downwind turn. The airplane paralleled the runway before it pitched nose up and entered a stall, which was followed by a nose down right-hand spin; the airplane then impacted a grass fairway on a golf course adjacent to the airport. Examination of the airframe revealed that the right-hand fuel tank contained very little fuel while the left fuel tank was half full. The fuel selector valve was positioned to the right-hand fuel tank. The carburetor bowl contained 5 milliliters of fuel, which is consistent with fuel starvation. The fuel selector valve handle was separated from the stem post and the fracture surface of the post at the selector handle interface is consistent with bending overload forces that would have occurred during the airframe's collision with terrain and buckling of the instrument panel. The fuel selector valve had not been lubricated in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended servicing instructions, which resulted in binding. The binding caused the fuel valve to require approximately three times the normal force to operate it.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed above the stall speed (Vso) while maneuvering to a landing area that resulted in a stall-spin. Factors in the accident were the fuel starvation induced loss of engine power due to the pilot's fuel system mismanagement, and the mechanical binding of the fuel selector valve due to inadequate maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/9/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Petaluma |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94954 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371547N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223641W |
| Event Location Airport | Petaluma Muni |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KO69 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1554 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAPC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 87 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19549 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 9 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-Oakland, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5704L |
| NTSB Number | LAX05FA090 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | American |
| Aircraft Model | AA1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1B-0030 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2083.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roger S. Mann |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Francisco |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94109 |
| 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 | KO69 |
| Departure City | Petaluma |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1540 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KO69 |
| Destination City | Petaluma |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 7 2006 5:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 3600 |
| Runway Width | 76 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |