Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palo Alto Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palo Alto, California 94303
Friday, February 1, 2008 8:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to the accident flight, a maintenance inspection was performed. A piece of the baffling was found in the throat of the carburetor venturi. The carburetor was inspected and reinstalled on the airplane. On the accident flight, the pilot/mechanic performed a post maintenance run-up with no mechanical problems noted. She taxied the airplane to the runway for takeoff and performed another run-up. Again there were no mechanical problems noted, and all the gages showed normal indications. On the takeoff roll the engine developed 2,300 rpm’s. About 500 feet mean sea level (msl), she noticed a hesitation in the engine and decided to make a 180-degree turn back to the runway. The airplane was still high on the approach, so the pilot reduced the airspeed, performed S-turns, and then slipped the airplane to lose altitude. She was still high, and about halfway down the runway, she further reduced the airspeed, which increased the sink rate. She lowered the nose to slow the sink rate, and was in the process of raising the nose again to flare for landing when the nose struck the runway. An inspection of the engine revealed zero compression of the number 1 cylinder with blow-by past the piston rings and exhaust valve. Maintenance personnel also noted that the bottom number 1 cylinder spark plug was "excessively" fouled with carbon deposits. There were no problems noted with the carburetor.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power during the takeoff initial climb due to lack of compression to a cylinder.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/1/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Palo Alto |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94303 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220600W |
| Event Location Airport | Palo Alto Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAO |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 847 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| 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) | 24580 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 1 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 5 2008 6:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SJC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N49811 |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA055 |
| 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 | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15281332 |
| 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 | Nov 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 6730 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kevin R Pinger |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Palo Alto |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94301 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | West Valley Flying Club |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1901 Embarcadero Road, Suite 100 |
| Operator City | Palo Alto |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94303 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PAO |
| Departure City | Palo Alto |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SQL |
| Destination City | SAN CARLOS |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 5 2008 6:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 2443 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |