- Date
- June 23, 1991, 11:50 local (18:50 UTC)
- Place
- Wrightwood, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4081KGreen-Fowler Pazmany PL-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910623023229A
- Case key
- 27256
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Fatigue fracture of one of the two propeller blades caused by the propeller modification and the non-approved propeller-engine combination. A factor in this accident was the transmission wires as an obstacle in the glide path during the attempted forced landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The aircraft was in cruise flight at about 5,600 feet mean sea level when the pilot heard a loud noise followed by severe vibrations. The pilot pulled the fuel mixture control and entered a power-off forced landing. On short final, the pilot noticed wires in his glide path. He maneuvered the aircraft under the wires. He landed on uneven terrain and the aircraft nosed over. Investigation revealed that about 17 inches of one propeller blade outboard section failed due to fatigue. The propeller was cut down from a 74' diameter to a diameter of 68' and put on the aircraft with a Lycoming 0-320 e engine. This is an unapproved combination and the propeller failed after about 20 hours of flight time in that combination. An independent laboratory examined the propeller and concluded that the fatigue failure was as a result of a forging defect. The NTSB laboratory reviewed that report and determined that the independent laboratory's conclusion was not substantiated.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4081K
- Reported as
- Green-Fowler Pazmany PL-1 (PAZMANY PL)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320E, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lawrence Tomasello
- Registered owner
- Lawrence Tomasello
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- L19 · Bakersfield, CA
- Destination
- L12 · Redlands, CA
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 321 total · 17 in this make and model · 194 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- VCV, 17 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.