Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Barbara Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Saturday, March 15, 1997 10:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to an FAA inspector, an aircraft entered Santa Barbara's Class C airspace without authorization or communication from the control tower and proceeded to over-fly the airport. Subsequently, it crashed 3 miles east of the airport. A sheriff's deputy responded to the scene of the accident and reported that the pilot had requested in-flight refueling from the control tower. The sheriff's deputy also stated that the pilot was incoherent. The pilot was then involuntarily admitted for psychiatric observation. A subpoena was issued for the evaluation and discharge summary of the pilot. The attending psychiatrist reported that the pilot had a bipolar disorder. The pilot did not possess an FAA pilot certificate. He did, however, possess a third-class medical, issued on September 22, 1992, but it had been expired for 3 1/2 years at the time of the accident. The FAA inspector reported that no fuel was found onboard or in the vicinity of the wreckage, and that no preexisting anomalies were found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper planning/decision, which resulted in loss of engine power, due to fuel exhaustion. His psychological condition was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SANTA BARBARA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93101 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SANTA BARBARA MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SBA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 710 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 19 1997 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 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7163R |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA128 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-21872 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHRIS P. RUSHING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3538 SKILLMAN LN. |
| Aircraft Owner City | PETALUMA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94952 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | O69 |
| Departure City | PETALUMA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | BAJA |
| Destination State | MX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | -- |