Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New Cuyama, California 93254
Sunday, May 8, 2005 10:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power while the airplane was in cruise flight and the airplane collided with obstacles and rough terrain during a forced landing. During cruise flight at 5,500 feet, the pilot felt a vibration in the engine. The vibration seemed to go through the entire airframe. The pilot applied carburetor heat for approximately 20 seconds. He removed the carburetor heat because it did not seem to help the situation and the engine began sputtering. He pulled the power back and began descending, attempting to troubleshoot the problem. The condition worsened and the pilot attempted to climb the airplane but there was not enough power available. All of the engine gauges appeared "in the green" and the pilot could not recall the rpm reading. The pilot and passenger began searching for a place to land and crash-landed into a tree in a crevice in the mountain. The temperature/dew point spread at 4,000 and 5,000 feet mean sea level indicated that moderate carburetor icing conditions existed at cruise power, when compared to a carburetor icing chart. According to the pilot operating handbook for the Cessna 140, "The correct way to use carburetor heat is to first use full heat to remove any ice that is forming." Post accident examination of the engine and airframe did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions that would have resulted in a loss of power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to properly use carburetor heat during conditions conducive to carburetor icing, which resulted in the loss of engine power. A factor in the accident was the unsuitable landing terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/8/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | New Cuyama |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93254 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345253N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1195346W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 951 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 133 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 261 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 19752 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 9 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| 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 | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N89671 |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA163 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8719 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1450 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33.62 |
| Airframe Hours | 1253.87 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Douglas Bailey |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hendersonville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37075 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Keegan Bailey |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | Buellton |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93427 |
| 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 | IZA |
| Departure City | Santa Ynez |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 22 2006 6:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |