- Date
- February 17, 2025, 12:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Geyserville, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N14QKQuicksilver Aeronautics L-S2S
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- 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
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250217001759A
- Case key
- 199721
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’s failure to secure the coolant cap during the preflight inspection, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to overheating and a subsequent forced landing.
Findings · 3
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
During cruise flight, the pilot reported that he noticed a temperature alarm, and a short time later, the engine sustained a complete loss of power. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a dirt road located in a vineyard. During the landing roll, the airplane veered to the right and struck a pole, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. A postaccident inspection of the aircraft revealed a missing cooling system expansion tank cap and a low coolant level. The piston faces also showed high heat signatures from red discoloration and scoring along the cylinder walls. The pilot reported that he removed the cooling system tank cap during the preflight inspection to check the water level and did not re-secure it. During the flight, the engine likely lost cooling fluid and overheated, which resulted in a complete loss of engine power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14QK
- Reported as
- Quicksilver Aeronautics L-S2S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10003
- Built
- 2014
- Airframe hours
- 450
- Engine
- Rotax 582, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Special light-sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 15, 2024 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- O60 · Cloverdale, CA
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B, Airframe parachute
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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 3, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 990 total · 630 in this make and model · 981 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1.2 in the last 30 days · 1.2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KSTS, 13 nm away
- METAR
- KSTS 172153Z COR 34011KT 10SM SCT035 16/06 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP187 T01560056
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 12, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.5 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.