Santa Monica Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Monica, California 90405
Tuesady, November 22, 1994 20:12 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE CFI AND STUDENT HAD DEPARTED SANTA MONICA AT 1356 ON A CROSS-COUNTRY CHECKOUT WITH FULL FUEL TANKS. TAKEOFFS, LANDINGS, AND/OR INSTRUMENT APPROACHES WERE MADE AT 6 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHT. THE CFI KNEW THE AIRCRAFT HAD INACCURATE FUEL GAUGES. AFTER FLYING FOR 5.3 HOBBS-METER-HOURS, WHILE USING FUEL FROM A COMBINATION OF AUX AND MAIN TANKS, THEY RETURNED TO SANTA MONICA. BOTH PILOTS REPORTED THAT THE MAIN TANKS' FUEL GAUGES INDICATED AT OR ABOVE THE 'YELLOW ARC.' THE CFI AUTHORIZED ONE FINAL TRAFFIC PATTERN CIRCUIT. WHILE CLIMBING TO 1,000 FT, ONE OF THE ENGINES STARTED RUNNING ROUGH THEN QUIT. SECONDS LATER, POWER WAS ALSO LOST ON THE SECOND ENGINE. THE CFI TOOK CONTROL, REVERSED COURSE, AND GLIDED TO THE RUNWAY WITH THE LANDING GEAR INTENTIONALLY RETRACTED TO INCREASE THE LIKLIHOOD OF REACHING THE AIRPORT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED BY THE POSTCRASH FIRE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

fuel starvation to both engines due to the CFI's inadequate fuel consumption calculations during the flight, and his failure to ensure that adequate fuel existed in the main tanks to complete the traffic pattern circuit.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/22/1994
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 2012
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City SANTA MONICA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 90405
Event Date Year 1994
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SMO
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 175
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2015 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SMO
Elevation of weather observation facility 175
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 2085
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 22 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2037
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 12:37PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1898W
NTSB Number LAX95LA040
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 BEECH
Aircraft Model 95-B55
Aircraft Series Identifier 95-B55
Aircraft Serial Number TC-1570
Certified Max Gross Weight 5100
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 18 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 15
Airframe Hours 3881
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BOB YARI
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2600 S.W. FREEWAY, SUITE 100
Aircraft Owner City HOUSTON
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77098
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name CLOVERFIELD AVIATION, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2501 AIRPORT AVENUE
Operator City SANTA MONICA
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 90405
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SMO
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 2010
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 4987
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --