- Date
- April 27, 2020, 08:20 local (15:20 UTC)
- Place
- Upland, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1222CCook Sonex
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200427002589A
- Case key
- 101212
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
A gradual loss of engine power during takeoff due to the pressure regulator not keeping continuous fuel pressure which led to a precautionary off airport landing and collision with terrain.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he returned from a local flight and was practicing touch-and-go landings. During the second takeoff, as the airplane gained altitude, the engine began to gradually lose power. Unable to return to the runway, the pilot initiated a precautionary landing to a strip of gravel that is perpendicular to the runway. During the landing, the right wing was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that he did not believe there was problem with the engine, but that the problem was with the fuel-to-air mixture caused by the fuel pressure regulator not keeping a continuous constant pressure that led to the gradual loss of engine power.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he returned from a local flight and was practicing touch-and-go landings. During the second takeoff, as the airplane gained altitude, the engine began to gradually lose power. Unable to return to the runway, the pilot initiated a precautionary landing to a strip of gravel that is perpendicular to the runway. During the landing, the right wing was substantially damaged. The pilot reported that he did not believe there was problem with the engine, but that the problem was with the fuel-to-air mixture caused by the fuel pressure regulator not keeping a continuous constant pressure that led to the gradual loss of engine power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1222C
- Reported as
- Cook Sonex
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1662
- Built
- 2016
- Airframe hours
- 130
- Engine
- Jabiru 3300, 120 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 2020
- Departed
- CCB · Upland, CA
- Destination
- CCB · Upland, CA
- Airport
- CCB · Cable, runway 24, 3,863 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator, ADS-B, Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 25, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 639 total · 166 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- KCCB
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 9, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.