Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ocotillo Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ocotillo Wells, California 92259
Wednesday, May 4, 1994 12:28 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was known to be susceptible to accumulated water in its tanks and the pilot had experienced previous engine stoppage during takeoff as a result of water in the fuel. The flight before the accident terminated in a precautionary landing at Ocotillo after experiencing a rough running engine. The pilot removed the carburetor, had it serviced, and then reinstalled it himself. After reinstallation, the pilot performed a ground run-up and the aircraft reportedly ran normally. On the day of the accident, the pilot performed a normal preflight. He drained 1 gallon of fuel from the aircraft's gascolator, since there are no quick-drain sumps on either main fuel tank. Immediately on takeoff, the aircraft's engine began to sputter and lose power. The pilot told a ground observer by radio that he wanted to try to gain some altitude and see if the problem would clear up. While in a turn near the ground, the aircraft stalled and crashed next to the runway. Water was found in the carburetor bowl.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the pilot to maintain flying speed after experiencing a partial power failure while maneuvering. A factor in the accident was the failure of the pilot to drain accumulated water from the aircraft fuel system during the preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/4/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1228 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | OCOTILLO WELLS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92259 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | OCOTILLO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L90 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 160 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1800 GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 115 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NJK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | GMT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 184 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 4 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1228 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3661X |
| NTSB Number | LAX94FA211 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AERO COMMANDER |
| Aircraft Model | 100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 312 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2250 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 5 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 1275 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EDWIN F. COOPER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3201 CADDEN COURT |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92117 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EDWIN F. COOPER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3201 CADDEN COURT |
| Operator City | SAN DIEGO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92117 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1225 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEE |
| Destination City | SAN DIEGO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 4210 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |