Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Off Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Jose, California 95148
Monday, November 20, 2006 12:38 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he was flying above hilly terrain southeast of the airport when he heard a loud bang, followed by a violent vibration coming from the engine. The pilot added that the engine did not experience a total loss of power, but performed poorly due to the severe vibration. The pilot reduced the throttle and the vibration subsided, but when he added more throttle the violent vibration returned. The pilot then decided that it was unsafe to continue the flight and began searching for a place to land. He made a forced landing in a pasture, which was uneventful until one of the main landing gear contacted a "deviation" in the ground. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. In a phone interview with the investigator-in-charge, a mechanic, who recovered the wreckage, reported that he examined the engine and discovered that the number 3 cylinder exhaust valve was stuck. The corresponding push rod tube was also bent, and the number 3 connecting rod was still intact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Partial loss of engine power due to a seized exhaust valve during cruise flight. Rough terrain at the forced landing site was a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/20/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1238 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | San Jose |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95148 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371958N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214911W |
| Event Location Airport | Off 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 | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| 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) | 22183 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 20 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-San Jose, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N97949 |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA040 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Stinson |
| Aircraft Model | 108-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 108-949 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steven P. Bentley |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Jose |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95120 |
| 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 | San Jose |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95120 |
| 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 | RHV |
| Departure City | San Jose |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | San Jose |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 17 2007 1:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |