Narrative:

On oct/ab/97, at approximately XX45 local time, I was flying aircraft #1 sbound along the west side of point loma. We were flight of two with cessna, aircraft #2, who was taking photos for a promotional brochure. Cessna aircraft #2 was communicating with north island tower, who had restr our flight to at or below 500 ft, when my engine lost partial power, and caused a forced landing on the western side of point loma. The following is a description, to the best of my knowledge, of the events of the flight: I had the tank topped off, at approximately XX00, which took 34 gals of 100LL and 5 gals of oil was added to the oil sump. The flight was completely normal for the first 30 or so mins. Temperatures, oil pressure, fuel flow, manifold pressure and RPM were all normal and within acceptable limits. I noticed a strange burning smell (not an oil smell, but what can best be described as electrical), seconds later the engine coughed, and began to lose power. I immediately pushed the mixture to full rich, and began a l-hand climbing turn with what airspeed and available power I had. Upon reaching best glide speed, I immediately began searching for a landing site and instructed my passenger to tighten his harness. My first choice was NAS north island, which was approximately 5 mi to the east, over point loma and across the bay. I quickly decided not to attempt north island for fear the engine would fully quit and I would be stuck heading for the western slope of point loma, or be forced to ditch in the bay between point loma and north island. I then saw my second choice which was the road leading to the monument and light house, but noticed pedestrians and vehicles on it and again looked for another landing site. I was continually adjusting the throttle to keep the engine running giving me what little power I had available. I noticed a long narrow road north of my position and aimed for it hoping it would be suitable for landing. I checked to make sure the fuel shut-off valve was on, which it was, cycled through both magnetos, and checked that the primer was in and locked, which it was. Thinking that fuel starvation may have been the cause I pulled out the primer to try to get a route for some fuel, but nothing worked. At that point I closed the primer, and decided to secure the engine and land. I selected fuel off and continued to fly to my selected spot. As I approached my landing site I noticed power lines to the left and crossing directly over the road. I again began searching for another landing site which I found to the left of the road I had previously selected. I steered the aircraft to the field, told my passenger 'this is going to hurt' and flared for the landing. We impacted fairly hard, rolled a few ft, bounced into the air, the wheels touched again, rolled until we hit a large bush, where we became airborne again, touched down once again, where there was a strong impact. The airplane rolled into a very thick batch of ice plant where it instantly slowed, pitched on its nose where it came to rest. I asked my passenger if he was ok, which he was and instructed him to get out of the airplane. I shut off the master switch and magnetos and unhooked my harness. I climbed out on the top wing and slid down to the surface. I went to my passenger and examined him for injuries. Upon finding no injuries to my passenger, I examined myself for injuries, found none, and cleared both of us from the forced landing site. I signaled to the aircraft above that we were ok and began looking for help. Someone from on top of the hill yelled down to us and asked if we were ok. I told them we were and asked them to call for help. Help arrived in approximately 3-5 mins. These are the events to the best of my memory. Looking back on the incident, the only things that I should have done differently is a more thorough check of the engine logs. I was ensured by the owner of the aircraft that the annual had been completed, and all airworthiness directives complied with. I never physically inspected the aircraft logs, but took the word of the owner. As of today, the failure is believed to be caused by a mechanical failure. The a&P who did the annual, 13 hours prior to the failure, obviously did an inadequate inspection. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated that the loss of power was enough for him to easily know that nzy, ca, could not be reached without more power. It was then he headed toward the loma linda light house area and got the aircraft on the ground. Aircraft rollout was about 200 ft. Only damage to aircraft was a cracked wing rib on the outside portion of the wing as a result of hitting a small mound of dirt during the rollout. Neither pilot nor passenger were hurt. Passenger in front was a pilot but there were no flight controls in the front. Aircraft had been recently purchased. Reporter feels mechanical inspection of engine was lacking when aircraft was accepted. All spark plug wires on aft of engine were held in place with wiring and duct tape. The engine lost power when a #5 cylinder spark plug electrode blew out of its housing and carried the spark wire with it. This was a formation flight, the other aircraft, a cessna, was taking pictures for a brochure and keeping in contact with nzy tower.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A STEARMAN PT17 FLYING ALONG THE COASTLINE BY NZY, CA, HAS A LOSS OF ENG PWR AND EXECUTES A FORCED LNDG IN SOME LOW GROWING ICE PLANT, ACFT NOSES DOWN DURING ROLLOUT AND IT RESULTS IN ONE BROKEN WING RIB. NO OTHER DAMAGE.

Narrative: ON OCT/AB/97, AT APPROX XX45 LCL TIME, I WAS FLYING ACFT #1 SBOUND ALONG THE W SIDE OF POINT LOMA. WE WERE FLT OF TWO WITH CESSNA, ACFT #2, WHO WAS TAKING PHOTOS FOR A PROMOTIONAL BROCHURE. CESSNA ACFT #2 WAS COMMUNICATING WITH NORTH ISLAND TWR, WHO HAD RESTR OUR FLT TO AT OR BELOW 500 FT, WHEN MY ENG LOST PARTIAL PWR, AND CAUSED A FORCED LNDG ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF POINT LOMA. THE FOLLOWING IS A DESCRIPTION, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, OF THE EVENTS OF THE FLT: I HAD THE TANK TOPPED OFF, AT APPROX XX00, WHICH TOOK 34 GALS OF 100LL AND 5 GALS OF OIL WAS ADDED TO THE OIL SUMP. THE FLT WAS COMPLETELY NORMAL FOR THE FIRST 30 OR SO MINS. TEMPS, OIL PRESSURE, FUEL FLOW, MANIFOLD PRESSURE AND RPM WERE ALL NORMAL AND WITHIN ACCEPTABLE LIMITS. I NOTICED A STRANGE BURNING SMELL (NOT AN OIL SMELL, BUT WHAT CAN BEST BE DESCRIBED AS ELECTRICAL), SECONDS LATER THE ENG COUGHED, AND BEGAN TO LOSE PWR. I IMMEDIATELY PUSHED THE MIXTURE TO FULL RICH, AND BEGAN A L-HAND CLBING TURN WITH WHAT AIRSPD AND AVAILABLE PWR I HAD. UPON REACHING BEST GLIDE SPD, I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN SEARCHING FOR A LNDG SITE AND INSTRUCTED MY PAX TO TIGHTEN HIS HARNESS. MY FIRST CHOICE WAS NAS NORTH ISLAND, WHICH WAS APPROX 5 MI TO THE E, OVER POINT LOMA AND ACROSS THE BAY. I QUICKLY DECIDED NOT TO ATTEMPT NORTH ISLAND FOR FEAR THE ENG WOULD FULLY QUIT AND I WOULD BE STUCK HEADING FOR THE WESTERN SLOPE OF POINT LOMA, OR BE FORCED TO DITCH IN THE BAY BTWN POINT LOMA AND NORTH ISLAND. I THEN SAW MY SECOND CHOICE WHICH WAS THE ROAD LEADING TO THE MONUMENT AND LIGHT HOUSE, BUT NOTICED PEDESTRIANS AND VEHICLES ON IT AND AGAIN LOOKED FOR ANOTHER LNDG SITE. I WAS CONTINUALLY ADJUSTING THE THROTTLE TO KEEP THE ENG RUNNING GIVING ME WHAT LITTLE PWR I HAD AVAILABLE. I NOTICED A LONG NARROW ROAD N OF MY POS AND AIMED FOR IT HOPING IT WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR LNDG. I CHKED TO MAKE SURE THE FUEL SHUT-OFF VALVE WAS ON, WHICH IT WAS, CYCLED THROUGH BOTH MAGNETOS, AND CHKED THAT THE PRIMER WAS IN AND LOCKED, WHICH IT WAS. THINKING THAT FUEL STARVATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE CAUSE I PULLED OUT THE PRIMER TO TRY TO GET A ROUTE FOR SOME FUEL, BUT NOTHING WORKED. AT THAT POINT I CLOSED THE PRIMER, AND DECIDED TO SECURE THE ENG AND LAND. I SELECTED FUEL OFF AND CONTINUED TO FLY TO MY SELECTED SPOT. AS I APCHED MY LNDG SITE I NOTICED PWR LINES TO THE L AND XING DIRECTLY OVER THE ROAD. I AGAIN BEGAN SEARCHING FOR ANOTHER LNDG SITE WHICH I FOUND TO THE L OF THE ROAD I HAD PREVIOUSLY SELECTED. I STEERED THE ACFT TO THE FIELD, TOLD MY PAX 'THIS IS GOING TO HURT' AND FLARED FOR THE LNDG. WE IMPACTED FAIRLY HARD, ROLLED A FEW FT, BOUNCED INTO THE AIR, THE WHEELS TOUCHED AGAIN, ROLLED UNTIL WE HIT A LARGE BUSH, WHERE WE BECAME AIRBORNE AGAIN, TOUCHED DOWN ONCE AGAIN, WHERE THERE WAS A STRONG IMPACT. THE AIRPLANE ROLLED INTO A VERY THICK BATCH OF ICE PLANT WHERE IT INSTANTLY SLOWED, PITCHED ON ITS NOSE WHERE IT CAME TO REST. I ASKED MY PAX IF HE WAS OK, WHICH HE WAS AND INSTRUCTED HIM TO GET OUT OF THE AIRPLANE. I SHUT OFF THE MASTER SWITCH AND MAGNETOS AND UNHOOKED MY HARNESS. I CLBED OUT ON THE TOP WING AND SLID DOWN TO THE SURFACE. I WENT TO MY PAX AND EXAMINED HIM FOR INJURIES. UPON FINDING NO INJURIES TO MY PAX, I EXAMINED MYSELF FOR INJURIES, FOUND NONE, AND CLRED BOTH OF US FROM THE FORCED LNDG SITE. I SIGNALED TO THE ACFT ABOVE THAT WE WERE OK AND BEGAN LOOKING FOR HELP. SOMEONE FROM ON TOP OF THE HILL YELLED DOWN TO US AND ASKED IF WE WERE OK. I TOLD THEM WE WERE AND ASKED THEM TO CALL FOR HELP. HELP ARRIVED IN APPROX 3-5 MINS. THESE ARE THE EVENTS TO THE BEST OF MY MEMORY. LOOKING BACK ON THE INCIDENT, THE ONLY THINGS THAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY IS A MORE THOROUGH CHK OF THE ENG LOGS. I WAS ENSURED BY THE OWNER OF THE ACFT THAT THE ANNUAL HAD BEEN COMPLETED, AND ALL AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES COMPLIED WITH. I NEVER PHYSICALLY INSPECTED THE ACFT LOGS, BUT TOOK THE WORD OF THE OWNER. AS OF TODAY, THE FAILURE IS BELIEVED TO BE CAUSED BY A MECHANICAL FAILURE. THE A&P WHO DID THE ANNUAL, 13 HRS PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, OBVIOUSLY DID AN INADEQUATE INSPECTION. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT THE LOSS OF PWR WAS ENOUGH FOR HIM TO EASILY KNOW THAT NZY, CA, COULD NOT BE REACHED WITHOUT MORE PWR. IT WAS THEN HE HEADED TOWARD THE LOMA LINDA LIGHT HOUSE AREA AND GOT THE ACFT ON THE GND. ACFT ROLLOUT WAS ABOUT 200 FT. ONLY DAMAGE TO ACFT WAS A CRACKED WING RIB ON THE OUTSIDE PORTION OF THE WING AS A RESULT OF HITTING A SMALL MOUND OF DIRT DURING THE ROLLOUT. NEITHER PLT NOR PAX WERE HURT. PAX IN FRONT WAS A PLT BUT THERE WERE NO FLT CTLS IN THE FRONT. ACFT HAD BEEN RECENTLY PURCHASED. RPTR FEELS MECHANICAL INSPECTION OF ENG WAS LACKING WHEN ACFT WAS ACCEPTED. ALL SPARK PLUG WIRES ON AFT OF ENG WERE HELD IN PLACE WITH WIRING AND DUCT TAPE. THE ENG LOST PWR WHEN A #5 CYLINDER SPARK PLUG ELECTRODE BLEW OUT OF ITS HOUSING AND CARRIED THE SPARK WIRE WITH IT. THIS WAS A FORMATION FLT, THE OTHER ACFT, A CESSNA, WAS TAKING PICTURES FOR A BROCHURE AND KEEPING IN CONTACT WITH NZY TWR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.