Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gnoss Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Novato, California 94945
Saturday, July 14, 2012 16:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 14, 2012, about 1600 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Loflin RV-7A, N404JT, experienced a partial loss of engine power and attempted to make a precautionary landing on runway 31 at Gnoss Field Airport (DVO), Novato, California. The student pilot/owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall, fuselage, and horizontal stabilizer. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local area flight, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight departed DVO about 1545.
According to the pilot, his intent was to level the airplane at 4,000 feet, fly around the local area, and then head back to DVO and do some pattern work. While on climb out, at 3,300 feet, the pilot reduced the engine power setting; at that point the airplane was climbing about 1,500 feet per minute. Shortly thereafter, about 3,700 feet, the pilot reported that he didn’t feel any “pull” from the airplane. He looked down at the instrument panel and noted that the manifold pressure was at 5 inches. The pilot attempted to troubleshoot the problem, and when that did not work, he decided to return to the airport and make a precautionary landing. The pilot landed the airplane about midway down runway 31, and was not able to stop the airplane before it overran the runway, traversed over a ditch, and came to rest inverted.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector performed a visual examination of the engine, with no obvious mechanical malfunctions noted. The engine and airframe have been retained for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/14/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Novato |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94945 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380837N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223321W |
| Event Location Airport | Gnoss Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DVO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.89 |
| 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 | 1 |
| 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 | Jul 25 2012 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N404JT |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA321 |
| 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 | LOFLIN |
| Aircraft Model | RV-7A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71352 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John E Adams |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Novato |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94945-2618 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John E Adams |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Novato |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94945-2618 |
| 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 | DVO |
| Departure City | Novato |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DVO |
| Destination City | Novato |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2012 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 3300 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |