Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Paula Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Paula, California 93060
Tuesady, September 4, 2007 19:14 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor and his student were flying a newly manufactured special light sport airplane to the state of Washington. On their initial departure, the engine lost power and they landed straight ahead on the remaining runway. A new fuel flow meter with a restriction had been installed in the airplane. This unit was removed and a ground run up test along with a flight test was performed. They departed at 1700 and flew for approximately 2 hours with no difficulties. A witness said that the airplane was landing on runway 22, and appeared to be "too fast." He said the airplane aborted the landing and during the go-around, the engine began to sputter. The witness said the airplane started a turn back towards the runway when the airplane "spun" into a nearby river. The flight instructor said that when the power loss occurred at approximately 200 to 300 feet above ground level, he took control of the airplane and turned towards an open area to his left. As he banked, the airplane impacted terrain. Several structural pieces of the fuselage were bent or broken. A post accident examination of the engine identified no abnormalities and the reason for the loss of engine power was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power during a go-around for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering following the loss of power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1914 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Santa Paula |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93060 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342036N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1190356W |
| Event Location Airport | Santa Paula Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SZP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 245 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1855 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 165 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 77 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.67 |
| 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) | 23950 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2008 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Van Nuys, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N155HC |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA248 |
| 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 | Higher Class Aviation |
| Aircraft Model | Sport Hornet |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 054 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1430 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 27 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Higher Class Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2450 Montecito Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ramona |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92065 |
| 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 | RNM |
| Departure City | Ramona |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SZP |
| Destination City | Santa Paula |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Go-around (VFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2008 3:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 2665 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |