Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Paula Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Paula, California 93060
Friday, July 4, 1997 12:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that during the preflight inspection a calibrated instrument was used to dip the tanks; the aircraft had approximately 7 gallons in the right tank, and 9 gallons in the left tank. The pilot did not report the nature of the calibrated instrument, nor how it was calibrated to the aircraft fuel system. On takeoff the fuel selector valve was set to the left tank and shortly after takeoff he switched it to the right tank. He ran the right tank dry and when the engine quit, he switched to the left tank and began a circling descent to the airport. The engine ran approximately 5 more minutes and then lost power again. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful. The pilot reported that prior to the accident the aircraft was running normally and no deficiencies were noted. The pilot reported to an FAA inspector that he had technically ran out of fuel. The inspector examined the aircraft on scene the day of the accident and reported that the fuel system appeared to be intact and no fuel was present in either of the tanks. According to the inspector no other mechanical anomalies were noted with the aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/inspection and his failure to ensure that adequate fuel was onboard prior to departure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/4/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1250 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SANTA PAULA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93060 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SANTA PAULA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SZP |
| 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 | 240 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1205 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 8 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 785 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 4 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2011G |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA232 |
| 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 | 182A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51311 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3246 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICHARD NEUFELD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3353 COURTNEY DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOMPOC |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93436 |
| 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 | SMX |
| Departure City | SANTA MARIA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WHP |
| Destination City | PACOIMA |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | 22 |
| Runway Length | 2417 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |