- Date
- December 6, 1991, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Nuevo, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N614LSGlasair SH-2R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911206063009A
- Case key
- 27394
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 failure of the pilot to perform preventative maintenance on the airplane's powerplant which resulted in a loss of performance during an unknown phase of operation. Contributing to the accident was fouled spark plugs and the partial loss of aircraft performance.
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 airplane collided with rugged terrain after a loss of engine power. It struck the north face of 20 deg slope of an east-west ridge, just below the crest. The airplane then slid about 20 ft down the slope where a post-impact fire destroyed the plane. An exam of the engine spark plugs revealed the #1 & #3 cylinder spark plug gaps were bridged with cinder-like deposits with metallic globules starting to fill the firing end cavity & worn center electrodes. According to the spark plug manufacturer, severely fouled plugs will operate colder causing misfires, and will also misfire at higher power because of the conductive nature of the deposits at elevated temps. Bridged gaps will short out the spark plug. Such a malfunctioned plug will misfire at all power settings in a manner similar to a oil fouled plug. Bridged gaps bridged by beaded lead globule will not clear up by engine operation & can be corrected only by replacing the malfunctioning spark plug with a serviceable unit. The acdnt time was estd be at 1530 PST.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N614LS
- Reported as
- Glasair SH-2R
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 763
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-B1E, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Saber, Lloyd E.
- Registered owner
- Saber, Lloyd E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 12, 1991
- Departed
- 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
- 62
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,030 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.