Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Paso Robles Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Paso Robles, California 93446
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 10:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight the engine of the experimental amateur-built airplane began to run rough and then lose all power. The pilot/builder then performed a forced landing in a vineyard. During the landing sequence, the airplane struck a trellis and sustained substantial damage to the firewall and right wing. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the valve clearance for three of the cylinder head rocker arms was beyond adjustment tolerances; additionally, one of the pushrods was loose within the cylinder head and did not make contact with its associated rocker arm. The pilot performed maintenance about 24 flight hours prior to the accident flight which included adjusting the rocker arm valve clearance. The pilot noted in the engine logbook that the valves were gapped at the manufacturer’s recommended setting. The pilot was not aware of the engine manufacturer's requirement to apply a specific torque to the valve rocker adjustment nuts during adjustment, and as such, did not tighten the nuts to the recommended torque level.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the pilot/builder’s failure to follow the engine manufacturer’s maintenance instructions and apply the correct torque to the rocker arm nuts during maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/25/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1040 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Paso Robles |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93446 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 354022n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1203737w |
| Event Location Airport | Paso Robles Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PRB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 836 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 836 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26148 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WPR Regional Operations Ce |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 2 2009 4:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1006N |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA166 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | REIMUS |
| Aircraft Model | Sonex FR1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 14 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 50 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REIMUS FRANCIS L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Paso Robles |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93446-4541 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | REIMUS FRANCIS L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Paso Robles |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93446-4541 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PRB |
| Departure City | Paso Robles |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1010 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PRB |
| Destination City | Paso Robles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 24 2009 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |