- Date
- April 22, 1992, 11:09 local (18:09 UTC)
- Place
- Perris, CA
- Injuries
- 16 fatal, 6 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N141PVde Havilland DHC-6-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19920422010579A
- Case key
- 27783
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-in-command's inadvertent feathering of the wrong propeller following an engine power loss, and the failure of the operator to assure that the pilot was provided with adequate training in the airplane. Factors related to the accident were: water contamination of fuel in the airport storage tanks, the operator's lack of fuel quality control procedures, improper fuel servicing, improper preflight by the pilot(s), and exceeding the gross weight/forward CG limits of the airplane.
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 ground loader had fueled the airplane from the airport fuel truck. He stated that the flight crew did not sump the fuel tanks after they were fueled. Immediately after takeoff the right engine lost power, the right wing lowered to about 90 deg, and the airplane impacted the ground adjacent to the runway. Then forward fuel tank, which provides fuel to the right engine, was found to contain about 8 gals of a heavily contaminated mixture composed of water, an emulsifying agent, and bacterial growth. The fuel from the airport fuel truck and main underground tank contained the same mixture. Fuel had been transfered from the underground tank to the truck on the evening preceding the accident. The left propeller control was found seized in the feather position; left propeller blades in the near-feather position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N141PV
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC-6-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 141
- Airframe hours
- 29,391
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-20A, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Skydiving · Part 91
- Operator
- Perris Valley Aviation Svcs
- Registered owner
- Conaster, Bennie E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 2, 1992 · 50 hours before
- Airport
- L65 · Perris Valley, runway 15, 5,100 × 65 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
- 44
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,300 total · 100 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.