Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rancho Palos Verdes, California 90275
Friday, August 30, 2013 11:43 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, during cruise flight about 1/2 mile off shore while towing an aerial advertising banner, the engine abruptly lost power. Despite troubleshooting attempts, including the application of carburetor heat, the pilot was unable to restart the engine, and he initiated a forced landing to a nearby beach. During the landing, the airplane nosed over and came to rest partially in the ocean. A postaccident examination of the recovered airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The quantity of fuel onboard the airplane could not be determined due to impact damage to the fuel system and its submersion in water after the accident. Although the weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the accumulation of carburetor ice, the pilot applied carburetor heat, and the engine did not restart; therefore, it is unlikely that carburetor icing caused the engine to lose power. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power during cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1143 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rancho Palos Verdes |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90275 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334429N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182245W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | 1847 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 33 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTOA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 105 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KTOA 301847Z 10015KT 20SM SCT150 33/19 A2997 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32867 |
| 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 | Apr 15 2014 5:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N224T |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA392 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-105 SPECIAL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-2338 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VAN WAGNER AERIAL MEDIA LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ATTN PAUL WHITBY |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOLLYWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33023 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | VAN WAGNER AERIAL MEDIA LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ATTN PAUL WHITBY |
| Operator City | HOLLYWOOD |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33023 |
| 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) | Banner Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CPM |
| Departure City | COMPTON |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 925 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CPM |
| Destination City | COMPTON |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 16 2014 4:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |