Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Visalia Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Visalia, California 93277
Tuesady, September 21, 2010 9:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot applied full engine power, took off, and climbed to about 300 feet above the runway. The engine suddenly lost partial power, and the pilot elected to return to the airport for a forced landing. The airplane’s altitude was insufficient to complete the turn, and the airplane impacted the ground adjacent to the departure runway, substantially damaging the right wing. An examination of the engine revealed that the retention mechanism for the bottom No. 3 spark plug failed and the spark plug had blown out of its cylinder. Its failure appeared related to excessive wear and the loosening over time of the Heli-Coil insert. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, evidence of the Heli-Coil’s loosening would not, necessarily, have been apparent to a mechanic during routine maintenance.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during takeoff, which resulted from the failure of the spark plug retention mechanism.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/21/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Visalia |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93277 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361907N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1192334W |
| Event Location Airport | Visalia Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VIS |
| 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 | 295 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VIS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 295 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Tue Sep 21 18:15:00 2010 1285092900 180 3 KT 23 1 |
| 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) | 29187 |
| NTSB Notification Source | AWP-6 Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2011 4:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6090Q |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA465 |
| 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 | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3260 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 30 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 6718 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAMS SHELDON LEWIS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | VISALIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93292-1541 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | WILLIAMS SHELDON LEWIS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | VISALIA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93292-1541 |
| 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 | VIS |
| Departure City | Visalia Municipal |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 939 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VIS |
| Destination City | Visalia Municipal |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2011 4:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 6559 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |