# NTSB WPR10LA477: Eccker Hurricane Hauler, N7519W, Jamul, CA, September 28, 2010 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Minor injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: September 28, 2010, 11:20 local (18:20 UTC) - Place: Jamul, CA - Coordinates: 32.689373, -116.79924 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.6894&lon=-116.7992&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341) - Highest injury: Minor injuries - Injuries: 1 minor - Status: Completed, report April 12, 2011 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Western Pacific Region - Parties: San Diego FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 77457 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR10LA477 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/77457/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=77457 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR10LA477 ## Probable cause The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to engine seizure as a result of lack of lubrication from excessive carbon buildup on the piston rings. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Engine (reciprocating): recip eng cyl section](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01058530): Aircraft › Aircraft power plant · Not specified (probable cause); cases with it: [Eccker Donald HURRICANE HAULER, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01058530/cases.md?model=05904FL), [All aircraft, 373 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01058530/cases.md) - [Object/animal/substance: fence/fence post](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022047): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Contributed to outcome; cases with it: [Eccker Donald HURRICANE HAULER, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022047/cases.md?model=05904FL), [All aircraft, 313 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022047/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341) (defining event); cases with it: [Eccker Donald HURRICANE HAULER, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md?model=05904FL), [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md) - [Landing-landing roll: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Eccker Donald HURRICANE HAULER, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=05904FL), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis While in cruise flight, the airplane's engine began to lose power and eventually stopped running. The pilot performed a forced landing in a field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted a fence, substantially damaging the airframe and wings. According to the pilot, the airplane's two-cycle engine is designed to receive lubrication to the piston via engine oil premixed into the automobile gasoline. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed excessive carbon buildup on the piston rings, which more than likely reduced the lubrication between the piston rings and the cylinder wall and led to overheating and a subsequent seizure of the engine. ## Factual narrative On September 28, 2010, about 1120 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Eccker Hurricane Hauler, N7519W, impacted a baseball field backstop during a forced landing near Jamul, California. The sport pilot, who was the sole occupant of the airplane, received minor injuries, and the airplane, which was owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage to its airframe and wings. The 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Nichols Field, near San Diego, California, about 20 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. According to the pilot, during cruise flight the engine started to lose power, and eventually the propeller stopped rotating. He therefore executed a power-out forced landing in the playground of a nearby primary school. Although the touchdown was successful, during the landing roll the airplane slid on the damp grass as the pilot tried to apply braking, and eventually it impacted a chain link fence around a baseball field, before the pilot could get it to come to a complete stop. After the accident, the pilot received permission from the NTSB Investigator-In-Charge (IIC) to disassemble the 2-cycle Rotax engine in order to look for internal failures or anomalies. According to the pilot, there was a heavy accumulation of carbon on the piston rings, which normally receive their lubrication from the 50 to 1 ratio of 2-cycle oil premixed in the gasoline by the pilot. Reportedly, the carbon build-up and a subsequent lack of lubrication resulted in seizure of the engine. Although the pilot felt that the brand of automobile gasoline he was using may have contributed to the carbon build-up, that could not be confirmed. It also could not be confirmed that the pilot had mixed the correct ratio of 2-cycle oil into the gasoline, although he said he had done so. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N7519W](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N7519W-2013-02-08), registration cancelled 2013-02-08, S/N HAUL-10, built 2007 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: ECCKER HURRICANE HAULER - Registry model: [Eccker Donald HURRICANE HAULER](https://openairdocs.org/model/eccker-donald-hurricane-hauler) (registry code 05904FL) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Rotax 503 DCDI](https://openairdocs.org/engine/rotax-503-dcdi) (registry code 55566, 2 cycle) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: HAUL-10 - Engines: ROTAX 503 DCDI 50 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Finck David B - Registered owner: Finck David B - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental light sport (Special) - Departed: OCL3, San Diego, CA - Destination: OCL3, San Diego, CA ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 59; injuries: minor; sport pilot; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: sport pilot; last flight review September 28, 2009; seat: center; flight hours: 160 total, 120 in this make and model, 140 as pilot in command, 32 in the last 90 days, 12 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Instrument (IMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 84 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20100928055699A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20100928055699A), Sep 28, 2010: Eccker Dona HURRICANE H, Jamul, CA, Substantial damage. On 09/28/2010, experimental aircraft N7519W performed an off- airport emergency landing following a loss of engine power. The aircraft rolled into a baseball… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 29, 2010, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=77457. 257 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 257 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40341104&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.