Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Long Beach Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lakewood, California 90808
Sunday, September 11, 2005 15:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane descended to ground impact while maneuvering to return to the runway following a partial loss of power in the takeoff initial climb. The airplane departed runway 25 right. About 30 seconds later, the pilot reported poor climb performance to the tower controller and requested to return to the airport. Ground witnesses, including pilots at the airport, said the airplane was low and appeared to be slower than normal. The engine maintained a constant low rpm (revolutions per minute) sound; it was not coughing, sputtering, or backfiring. The nose was up, the wings were rocking, and the tail was moving back and forth. The airplane stalled, the right wing dropped about 90 degrees, and the nose went nearly straight down. The airplane came to rest behind a building. Total time recorded on the engine at the last 100-hour inspection was 2,762.5 hours, and it had not been overhauled. Work performed included an oil and oil filter change, a check of the exhaust system, gapping of the spark plugs, a check for compliance with airworthiness directives, and a notation that compression was 70/80 or better. The manufacturer's recommended time between overhauls is 2,400 hours. Engine examination determined that only one top spark plug appeared to be within service limits. Disassembly of the engine revealed broken rings on two pistons. One piston had a scarf gap that allowed combustion blow-by (blow torching) to consume piston material. False brinnelling was extensive on the face of the cylinder number 1 exhaust camshaft follower and the cylinder number 3 exhaust lobe of the camshaft. All of the internal engine components displayed signatures that were consistent with an over extended service life. The ignition switch was in the right position. It could not be determined if the pilots left the switch in the right position after the before takeoff magneto check, or intentionally selected the right position while troubleshooting the lack of power in flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the certified flight instructor's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed resulting in a stall and loss of control. Also causal was the engine's loss of partial power due to inadequate maintenance, worn spark plugs, worn pistons, and broken piston rings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lakewood |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90808 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334947N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1180959W |
| Event Location Airport | Long Beach |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 60 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 60 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20968 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 11 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2007 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Long Beach, CA FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6565L |
| NTSB Number | LAX05FA296 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15284440 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9451 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aviation West Flight School |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4225 Donald Douglas Dr |
| Aircraft Owner City | Long Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90808 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LGB |
| Departure City | Long Beach |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1544 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 14 2006 6:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25R |
| Runway Length | 6192 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |