Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pleasant Grove, California 95842
Sunday, April 3, 2011 12:53 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A pilot-rated witness said that the airplane was airborne within “a couple of minutes” after the engine was started and that, when the airplane reached an altitude of 200 to 300 feet above the ground during climb out, it appeared to slow. The witness said that the airplane then banked left and descended in a spiral until it impacted the ground. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed evidence of abnormal piston wear and cylinder damage, including mechanical scoring and vertical grooves along the forward cylinder walls and piston skirt. A representative of the engine manufacturer reported that the observed cylinder and piston damage was consistent with an in-flight cold seizure of the piston (a condition where the piston seizes within the cylinder). About 17 years before the accident, the engine manufacturer issued a Service Information Letter (SIL) that addressed the potential for such a piston seizure. The SIL stated in part “...Putting a cold engine to hard work without uniform and correct warm up will cause the piston to expand quicker than the cylinder, minimizing clearance and creating piston scuffing and seizure.” It is likely that the pilot did not allow enough time for the engine to warm up before taking off.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to allow the airplane’s engine to properly warm up before applying takeoff power, which resulted in the forward cylinder's piston seizing and a subsequent loss of engine power. Also causal was the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed after the loss of engine power, which resulted in a stall-spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/3/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1253 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pleasant Grove |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95842 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385219N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1212815W |
| Event Location Airport | Private |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| 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 | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 183 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSMF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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) | 29989 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2012 2:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8113N |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA183 |
| 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 | TOMEI |
| Aircraft Model | S12 XL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 07960735 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1160 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 21 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 306 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TOMEI ED J |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | YUBA CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95993-9713 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | TOMEI ED J |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | YUBA CITY |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95993-9713 |
| 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 | PVT |
| Departure City | Pleasant Grove |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1253 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Pleasant Grove |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2012 2:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 2300 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |