Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Borrego Springs Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Borrego Springs, California 92004
Monday, September 12, 1994 8:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
IN CRUISE OVER THE MOUNTAINS, THE FUEL PRESSURE DECREASED AND THE ENGINE QUIT. ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE POWER BY ACTIVATING THE HAND OPERATED PUMP ON THE FUEL SELECTOR AND SWITCHING BETWEEN TANKS WERE FUTILE. THE PILOT SPOTTED THE DESERT FLOOR AIRPORT JUST BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS AND ATTEMPTED A FORCED LANDING ON RUNWAY 25; HOWEVER, HE LANDED 100 YARDS SHORT IN ROUGH DESERT TERRAIN. FAA INSPECTORS FOUND THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE ON THE RIGHT TANK AND THE SELECTOR HANDLE EXTENDED INTO THE PUMP OPERATING POSITION. NO FUEL WAS FOUND IN THE RIGHT TANK, WITH NO EVIDENCE OF SPILLAGE NOTED ON THE SURROUNDING GROUND. THE LEFT FUEL TANK CONTAINED ABOUT 1/4 TO 1/2 CAPACITY. THE ENGINE-DRIVEN FUEL PUMP AND THE COMBINED FUEL SELECTOR VALVE AND HAND FUEL PUMP WERE FOUND TO FUNCTION. THE COMBINATION FUEL SELECTOR AND HAND OPERATED FUEL PUMP UNIT HAS TWO SEPARATE MODES. WITH THE HANDLE IN THE DOWN POSITION, THE UNIT IS A FUEL SELECTOR VALVE. WHEN THE HANDLE IS EXTENDED INTO THE PUMP POSITION, THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE MODE IS DISABLED. THE PILOT PURCHASED THE AIRCRAFT ABOUT 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT AND HAS ONLY 6 HOURS IN THE AIRCRAFT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent allowance of a fuel starvation loss of power event and his failure to select a tank containing fuel due to his lack of knowledge about the fuel pump/selector unit operating limitations. Factors in the accident were his limited experience in the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/12/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 845 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BORREGO SPRINGS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92004 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BORREGO SPRINGS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L08 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 80 |
| Airport Elevation | 520 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 851 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 8 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1645 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 12 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1012 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N622D |
| NTSB Number | LAX94LA363 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | C35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D2882 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2700 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 24 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 4700 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THE SINCLAIR/BAYFIELD COMPANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 476 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EHRENBERG |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85334 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DANIEL N. SINCLAIR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 450 W. BERNARD, #A212 |
| Operator City | BLYTHE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92225 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CRQ |
| Departure City | CARLSBAD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BLH |
| Destination City | BLYTHE |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | 25 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |