Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Banning Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cabazon, California 92230
Sunday, August 21, 2011 15:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 21, 2011, about 1545 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-31-310, N1009S, experienced a loss of engine power in the left engine during cruise and made a forced landing in open desert terrain near Cabazon, California. Southern California Edison (SoCal Edison) operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as aerial survey flight. The commercial pilot and two surveyors were not injured, the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local area flight that departed Banning Airport (BNG), Banning, California, at an undetermined time. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot was interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (NTSB IIC). He stated that the purpose of the flight was to survey the power lines in the area of BNG to the Palm Springs wind farms. The pilot had flown the airplane to BNG the day before and performed a flight that day. He had flown the surveyors the morning of the accident, and the accident flight in the afternoon was to be the last flight. On the previous two flights, there had been no mechanical discrepancies encountered. The first part of the accident flight was uneventful from BNG to the wind farms. He made the turn back to BNG and was about 20 miles out of BNG when he heard a loud bang coming from the left engine. Oil began gushing out of the engine, followed by an engine shutdown. The pilot stated that he then feathered the propeller and attempted to return to BNG airport. He stated that he was not able to maintain altitude, and decided to make a forced landing in an open field.
According to the operator, the airplane was hired by Towill, Inc., to perform survey work for SoCal Edison.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cabazon |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92230 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335443N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1165244W |
| Event Location Airport | Banning Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BNG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2219 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 477 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 49 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP 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 | Sep 16 2011 5:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1009S |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA401 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-329 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARC INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 44 CROSSGATES DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | BRANDON |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39042-2273 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Southern California Edison |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ontario |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BNG |
| Departure City | Banning |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BNG |
| Destination City | Banning |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2011 5:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |