Gillespie Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Diego, California 92101
Sunday, November 27, 2005 13:26 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The engine experienced a loss of power and the airplane collided with a fence while the pilot was performing a forced landing. As the airplane approached the vicinity of the destination airport, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot made a forced landing on highway about 2 miles from the airport. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted a fence. A post accident examination of the engine revealed that rotation of the crankshaft did not generate rotation of the camshaft. Removal of the starter drive gear assembly revealed that four gear teeth were missing from the camshaft sprocket and one gear tooth was missing from the crankshaft sprocket. The gear teeth were retrieved and sent to the Safety Board Materials Laboratory for examination. The camshaft gear sprocket failed due to fatigue initiating at the root of one of the teeth. Several other teeth had fatigue consistent with secondary initiation due to load shedding from the original failed tooth; the crankshaft gear failure was also secondary. Microstructural examination and hardness testing was performed on a section of a camshaft tooth, which met drawing specifications. A thin layer of decarburization was observed on the surface.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the camshaft due to fatigue of one of the gear teeth, which resulted in a loss of engine power. Factors were the fence and the fence post.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/27/2005
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1326
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City San Diego
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92101
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324900N
Event Location Longitude 1165800W
Event Location Airport Gillespie Field
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SEE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 387
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1348 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SEE
Elevation of weather observation facility 388
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) --
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) 21279
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Nov 27 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2007 2:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAN-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3936D
NTSB Number LAX06LA048
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 182A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 34636
Certified Max Gross Weight 2450
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 Jan 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 76
Airframe Hours 2896
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Paul Landry
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Fallon
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89406
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 LVK
Departure City Livermore
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1115
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SEE
Destination City San Diego
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2007 5:06PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --