Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lake Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Lake Tahoe, California 96150
Sunday, July 5, 2009 13:01 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses stated that the airplane lifted off and climbed to about 100 feet above the runway in an unusually high nose-up pitch attitude before turning left and descending into terrain. The pilot transmitted a "mayday" call on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency just before the airplane entered the left turn. During postaccident testing of the engine, excessive vibration occurred as the rpm increased, and one of the spark plugs became excessively sooty, indicating an overly rich fuel/air mixture. The carburetor was then replaced and the engine ran normally at all power test points; the previously sooty spark plug was normal after this test. The accident carburetor was then examined, and a pin that secures the carburetor’s metal floats to their pivot point in the carburetor bowl was missing. Marks indicating contact on the edge of a float and on the side of the bowl were found, indicative of rubbing interference with the side of the bowl. The float-to-bowl contact likely altered the fuel quantity in the bowl, which likely created an overly rich mixture that would have further reduced available engine power at the high density altitude at which the airplane was being operated. The density altitude was calculated to be 8,708 feet. High density altitude adversely affects airplane climb performance and requires pilot vigilance to maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff and climb.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power due to a malfunctioning carburetor and the pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering to return to the runway. Contributing to the accident was the high density altitude.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/5/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1301 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | South Lake Tahoe |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96150 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385317N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1195939W |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Tahoe |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TVL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6264 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6264 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KTVL 051953Z AUTO 20011G20KT 10SM CLR 26/M03 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30009 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Reg Ops Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 16 2012 7:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N51172 |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA326 |
| 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 | 150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | J |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15069814 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Nov 8 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 73 |
| Airframe Hours | 6582 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Winterset Aero Club, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dexter |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 50070 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Casey W. Daggett |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Memphis |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 38103 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TVL |
| Departure City | South Lake Tahoe |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Unknown |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 16 2012 6:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 8544 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |