Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Woodland, California 95695
Wednesday, March 5, 2014 19:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 5, 2014, about 1930 Pacific standard time, a Zenair CH2T, N285AM, made an off airport forced landing near Woodland, California. Sierra Academy of Aeronautics was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and the student pilot were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damaged during the accident sequence. The cross-country instructional flight departed Merced (MER), California, with a planned destination of Yolo County Airport (DWA), Woodland. Visual (VMC) meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed.
Postcrash examination determined that both wing spars had been damaged, and the incident was upgraded to an accident on April 2, 2014.
The CFI reported that the flight was for IFR training. The CFI and student completed one leg culminating in an instrument approach to Willows, California. The CFI stated that, at 1-2 minute intervals during 10-15 minutes of the flight, the engine rpm dropped about 100 revolutions per minute (rpm) audibly and visually on the tachometer during the flight. The airplane was in level cruise flight at 4,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The drop never exceeded 100 rpm; application of carburetor heat, testing magnetos, changing mixture, and throttle settings had no effect. After 15 minutes, the anomaly ceased occurring. The student completed an approach, executed the missed approach, and proceeded on course to Woodlands.
The CFI reported that he and he student were en route to GHEER intersection on the RNAV 16 approach to Yolo County Airport. Approximately 20 miles from the airport, the student switched fuel tanks as scheduled (every 30 minutes) in accordance with the Sierra Academy checklist. They were cleared to descend to 3,000 feet to cross GHEER at or above 3,000 feet. With some distance to cover, the CFI suggested a descent rate of 200-300 feet per minute (fpm). The student reduced power, and completed the approach checklist, which the CFI verified. About 12 miles from GHEER, the airplane entered IFR conditions (a stratus cloud). As the airplane entered the clouds, the CFI suggested a higher descent rate to pass through the clouds more quickly.
After 1-2 minutes in the clouds, the student pilot reduced power, and pitched slightly down to increase the descent rate. Nearly at the moment of the reduced power, the engine rpm dropped to 800-1,000 rpm, and the propeller sounded as if it were windmilling. The CFI asked the student why he cut the power completely, and the student relied that he had not. The CFI stated verbally full power, but the rpm did not change. The CFI took control of the airplane, and tried to troubleshoot as he completed a mental emergency checklist (carburetor heat, fuel selector-mixture-fuel pump combinations, fuel gauge, throttle pumping, magneto check, starter check, engine instruments crosscheck). The student confirmed all steps using the emergency checklist. The attempts to restore power were unsuccessful, and the airplane exited the cloud layer between 1,500 to 2,500 feet. The CFI declared a Mayday with approach control, as he and the student completed the emergency checklist again with no results.
The crew resigned themselves to an off airport forced landing. The CFI had the student pilot call out airspeed and altitude while focusing on a landing point. During about 300 feet of the descent, the airplane began shaking violently; the airspeed indicated 60 knots, and there was no stall horn. The shaking stopped about 300 feet above ground level (agl). About 200 feet agl, the landing lights illuminated a power line, and the CFI determined that the airplane would stall if he attempted to climb over it. The CFI had the student grab a flight bag as a cushion, and turned the fuel selector off. At this point, the CFI flew under the power line, and landed just beyond it. The airplane touched down smoothly, and the CFI held the nose wheel off the ground as long as possible. A line of small tress came into view, and the CFI began to let the nose drop. The nose drop coincided with the wings hitting the trees.
After the airplane came to rest, the student and CFI thought that they turned off the rest of the power sources, and exited toward the rear of the airplane. They observed that the fuel tanks appeared undamaged, there was no smell of fuel, and the airplane seemed secure. After waiting a few minutes, they approached the airplane in order to use the radio to call for assistance. They discovered that the avionics master switch was still on. Unable to establish contact with the radio, the CFI used his cell phone to contact air traffic control, and provided them with the site's GPS location. About 1.5 hours later, a helicopter spotted them, and emergency crews arrived.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/5/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Woodland |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95695 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1215060W |
| 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 | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KEDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KEDU 060515Z AUTO 19007KT 10SM FEW027 BKN033 OVC06 |
| 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 | 2 |
| 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 | Apr 7 2014 6:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N285AM |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA153 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ZENAIR |
| Aircraft Model | CH2T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20-1046 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Sierra Academy of Aeronautics |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2305 Jetlift Dr |
| Aircraft Owner City | Merced |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95301 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Sierra Academy of Aeronautics |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2305 Jetlift Dr |
| Operator City | Merced |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95301 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MER |
| Departure City | Merced |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Woodland |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 7 2014 7:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |