- Date
- October 26, 1991, 09:01 local (16:01 UTC)
- Place
- Long Beach, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3843CCessna 414
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911026048039A
- Case key
- 27387
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
The pilot's improper emergency procedures by not retracting the landing gear when he shut the engine down and his failure to maintain airspeed. The scavenge pump failure, shutting down the engine and the inadvertent stall were factors in the accident.
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 pilot reported that he had lost the left engine during the initial climb phase of a cross-country flight. Ground witnesses observed that the airplane's landing gear was down and the left propeller was feathered as it turned left onto the downwind leg of the traffic pattern. Other witnesses observed the airplane's wings dip before it nosed over into the terrain while turning onto the final approach course. The airplane struck the ground and a fence that separated two residential yards. The wreckage examination disclosed that the left engine's scavenge pump failed. This failure led the pilot to believe that the engine failed. The pilot's improper emergency procedures by failing to retract the landing gear and maintain airspeed precipitated the resulting stall and uncontrolled descent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3843C
- Reported as
- Cessna 414
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4140846
- Airframe hours
- 2,711
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-N, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Crago, William T. & Geraldine
- Registered owner
- Crago, William T. & Geraldine
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 2, 1990 · 180 hours before
- Destination
- SDL · Scottsdale, AZ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LGB · Daugherty Field, runway 3, 10,000 × 200 ft, asphalt
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,510 total · 317 in this make and model · 1,377 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGB, 1 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.