LAX86LA128 · Ryan ST3KR
Ryan ST3KR · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route
From Camarillo International Airport (CMA) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX86LA128
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Ryan ST3KR
- Aircraft type
- Ryan ST3
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N51122
- Operator
- Stephen K. Freeman · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Camarillo International Airport (CMA), Camarillo, CATo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Throttle/power lever, linkage › Separation
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE OWNER OF THE ACFT REPORTED THAT HE HAD JUST PURCHASED THE AIRCRAFT AND WAS BEING CHECKED OUT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTING CMA AND UPON REACHING 1200 FT MSL, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE THE CHECK PILOT ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE ACFT AND LANDED IN AN OPEN FIELD ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OF THE ARPT. DURING THE LANDING ROLL THE MAIN WHEELS SUNK INTO THE SOFT, WET DIRT AND NOSED OVER ONTO ITS BACK. SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE ACFT DSCLSD THE THROTTLE BELLCRANK LINKAGE WAS EXCESSIVELY WORN AND BROKEN. AN ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED ON THE ACFT 10 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX86LA128
- Event ID
- 20001213X32894
- Case number
- LAX86LA128
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 02ca6bfc20b0460ce949e94b124aa8e041da20ec93a236f003627d6cfde1c7ce; retrieved 2026-09-23T15:00:45.760Z.