Calexico International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Calexico, California 92232
Monday, May 30, 1994 15:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot cleared U. S. Customs at Calexico, CA, and was on the ground for about 10 minutes. He said that after taxiing to the end of the runway he noticed a lull in the traffic and decided to immediately takeoff without performing a pretakeoff power or aircraft configuration check. The pilot said that he was reaching for the landing gear control just after liftoff when the left engine failed. The aircraft yawed and banked to the left and, before the pilot could regain control, the left wing tip contacted the ground. The aircraft cartwheeled to a stop off the left side of the runway. The aircraft was examined and the fuel quantity gauge selector switch was positioned to the main fuel tanks while the fuel selectors were positioned to the auxiliary fuel tanks. The left and right main fuel tanks contained 16 and 20 gallons, respectively, while the auxiliary tanks had less than 5 gallons. Fuel system continuity was established with no evidence of postaccident leakage noted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

1) the pilot's failure to correctly position the fuel selectors prior to takeoff, 2) the resultant fuel starvation failure of the left engine in the takeoff initial climb, and 3) the failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/30/1994
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City CALEXICO
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92232
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 CALEXICO INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CXL
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 1
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1452 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 260
Weather Observation Facility ID IPL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 38
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 558
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 30 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1635
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 11:15AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N814U
NTSB Number LAX94LA229
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BEECH
Aircraft Model 95-B55
Aircraft Series Identifier 95-B55
Aircraft Serial Number TC1342
Certified Max Gross Weight 5200
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 2 1993 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 110
Airframe Hours 2522
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN N. OSTERKAMP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 455 S. RIO VISTA AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City BRAWLEY
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92227
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name JOHN N. OSTERKAMP
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 455 S. RIO VISTA AVENUE
Operator City BRAWLEY
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 92227
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 CXL
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1515
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BWC
Destination City BRAWLEY
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 26
Runway Length 4330
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --