Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Raymond, California 93653
Friday, February 16, 1996 17:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the aircraft was en route over low rolling foothills when the engine quit. The aircraft firewall and nose gear was damaged during the forced landing on a road. Examination of the aircraft by a A&P mechanic revealed that the fuel system was intact. Only residual fuel was found in the fuel tanks. Following recovery of the aircraft, the engine was started using the airframe systems; it accelerated to power smoothly with normal magneto drops observed. The pilot stated the aircraft is rented full of fuel by the FBO and during the preflight inspection put her fingers in the filler port and felt fuel at a level about 1 inch below the top of the filler neck. The pilot noted that the fuel gages in this aircraft historically read something less than full when the tanks are filled and the gage reading on start of between 3/4 and full seemed normal. Cessna Aircraft reported that the tanks must be filled to the top of the filler neck to obtain a 20 gallon usable fuel level. A fuel level at the bottom of the filler neck equals 18 usable gallons and each inch in fuel level below that is equal to about 2 gallons of fuel. The difference between the takeoff time and the accident is 3 hours 22 minutes according to FAA ATC communication tapes. The Safety Board calculated the expected fuel usage using both the aircraft performance charts in the Cessna POH, and specific fuel flow figures provided by Lycoming for an engine operated at full rich condition. With the stated allowances for engine start, taxi and takeoff, the Safety Board calculated that 28.4 gallons of fuel would be used when the engine was leaned and the aircraft flown according to the manual. In the full rich condition, 33.4 gallons of fuel would be required.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to verify the quantity of fuel onboard the aircraft prior to departure, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/16/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1740 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | RAYMOND |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93653 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1652 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 333 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| 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) | 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 688 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 16 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N53115 |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA117 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17274687 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 4946 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | POUR ZANJANI MOJEAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3 PETERSBURG |
| Aircraft Owner City | IRVINE |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92720 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROYAL AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3000 AIRWAY, SUITE 125 |
| Operator City | COSTA MESA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92626 |
| 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 | SNA |
| Departure City | SANTA ANA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1417 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | O68 |
| Destination City | MARIPOSA |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |