Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Van Nuys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Nuys, California 91406
Sunday, November 25, 2012 15:05 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the airplane was in cruise flight when the engine started backfiring and he smelled burnt oil; the engine subsequently lost partial power. During the forced landing on a soccer field, the airplane sustained substantial damage when it collided with a fence and trees before coming to rest on its left side. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the engine crankshaft would not rotate. A borescope inspection revealed that a valve in the No. 2 cylinder was in contact with a piston face. All of the piston heads exhibited semicircular indentations near the location of the valves. Upon disassembly, six gear teeth on the crankshaft gear were found fractured, and all of the teeth on the camshaft gear were found ground off. A metallurgical examination of the separated crankshaft gear teeth revealed that two of the fracture surfaces exhibited fatigue with areas of corrosion pitting and that the other fracture surfaces exhibited evidence of overload.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fatigue fractures of two crankshaft gear teeth from corrosion pitting, which resulted in an off-airport forced landing and collision with obstacles on the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/25/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Van Nuys |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91406 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341434N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1183125W |
| Event Location Airport | Van Nuys |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VNY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 802 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1451 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KVNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33398 |
| 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 | Oct 1 2014 11:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | plah |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5229U |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA052 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | U206 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 206-0229 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| 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 | Oct 4 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8525 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Clipper 29 Uniform LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Newport Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92660 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Clipper 29 Uniform LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Newport Beach |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92660 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DVO |
| Departure City | Novato |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SNA |
| Destination City | Santa Ana |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 1 2014 11:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | plah |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |