- Date
- June 23, 1989, 15:19 local (22:19 UTC)
- Place
- Bremerton, WA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N260BColonial C-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19890623017409A
- Case key
- 40925
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
Malfunction of both magnetos due to deterioration of the coils, which resulted in the loss of engine power. Factors related to the accident were: an inadequate airworthiness directive (no calendar time limits), and the lack of suitable terrain (rough/uneven) in the emergency landing area.
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
About 9 min after takeoff, as the plts were mnvrg on a local training flt, the eng lost power. An emerg lndg was made in the only available place, a clear cut area of an evergreen forest. During the lndg, the acft collided with rough terrain & a stump. Functional tests revealed that both magnetos would produce a spark at ambient temp, but they would not operate when heated to normal operating temp. Before this flt, the 1957 model acft had been in storage for an extdd period of time. Records showed that an annual inspn had been performed on 4/3/87 at 1294.3 hrs of svc. The next annual inspn was just before the acdnt flt at 1294.8 hrs. The coils in the bendix S4LN-20 series magnetos installed in the acft were required to be replaced before 2000 hrs time-in-svc iaw AD 73-07-04 (issued in 1973) & bendix svc bul #560A. The AD had not been complied with. Neither the AD nor the svc bul specified a calendar time limit for mandatory replacement of the magneto coils.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N260B
- Reported as
- Colonial C-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20
- Airframe hours
- 1,295
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- John Wells Aviation Service
- Registered owner
- John Wells Aviation Svc, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · June 20, 1989 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- PWT · Bremerton, WA
- Airport
- PWT · Bremerton
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,483 total · 11,412 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PWT, 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.