French Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Murrieta, California 92563
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:20 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the airplane was climbing after takeoff, the pilot felt what he described as a shift in the airplane's attitude. The pilot tried to correct it with rudder input, then with manual trim, but neither actions corrected the out-of-trim condition. The pilot looked to see if something was jamming the rudder pedals, but could not find anything. The airplane was now in a slight descent and a shallow left turn. Exerting a great amount of effort he was able to get some response with the ailerons. The airplane was in a left turn descending orbit when the engine lost power; at that point the pilot identified a field to land in. Attempts to restart the engine were not successful. The pilot lowered 40 degrees of flaps and made an off-field landing that sheared off the nose gear. First responders reported that fuel was leaking from both wings when they arrived on scene. An FAA inspector reported that he found no anomalies with the airplane's flight controls, and that 60 to 80 gallons of fuel was recovered from the fuel tanks. A second and more detailed examination of the airplane's flight control system also revealed no anomalies. After wreckage recovery, the engine was test run. The engine started and ran for 2 minutes, achieving 2,000 rpm before being shut down.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A malfunction of the flight control system and loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/31/2008
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1120
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Murrieta
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92563
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 334018N
Event Location Longitude 1170405W
Event Location Airport French Valley Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KF70
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 7
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1350
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1055 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID KRIV
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 19
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.94
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) 25266
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 31 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 24 2009 6:02PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Riverside FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1499M
NTSB Number LAX08LA251
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 TU206E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number U20601499
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 4
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 10 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30.9
Airframe Hours 2945.7
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91
Aircraft Owner Name Robert E. Abacherli
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City San Bernardino
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92408
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 Bernardino
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92408
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KF70
Departure City French Valley
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1115
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KREI
Destination City Redlands
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 24 2009 6:02PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --