Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palos Verdes, California 90274
Saturday, August 9, 1997 13:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft had been modified with installation of: 1) a Lycoming O-360 engine; 2) an 18-gallon auxiliary fuel tank in the baggage compartment; and 3) a Cessna 172 type main fuel selector capable of selecting right, left, both, and off positions. The auxiliary tank was plumbed to pump fuel through an electric pump and an on-off fuel valve into the right wing tank. The fuel quantity sending unit was wired through a toggle switch to the right wing tank fuel gage; the switch could select either the right wing or auxiliary tank for gage display. The fuel system operating procedures specify that the pilot is to use fuel from the right wing tank first for 1 hour, then transfer fuel from the auxiliary tank. The pilot reported that after picking up the banner he climbed on a westerly heading on both tanks. Approximately 15 minutes later, the pilot switched to the right tank. He reported that 1 1/2 hour later he switched to the auxiliary tank. The right tank fuel gage read 1/4 full. At this point the engine stopped, and he switched back to both tanks in an attempt to restart the engine. The pilot reported that the attempted engine restart was unsuccessful and he had to ditch the aircraft in the ocean. After the aircraft was recovered, 2 gallons of fuel were drained from right tank, and 18-20 gallons of fuel were drained from the left tank. In a verbal statement to FAA inspectors, the pilot reported that he forgot to switch the fuel selector.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power due to fuel starvation and the pilot's mismanagement of the aircraft's fuel supply.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1335 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PALOS VERDES |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90274 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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) | 1508 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 9 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 12:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3084S |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA278 |
| 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 | 150G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150G |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15066984 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1760 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 120 |
| Airframe Hours | 3421 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TOM KING AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7000 MERRILL AVE. #3 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHINO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91710 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | TOM KING AERIAL ENTERPRISES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CNO |
| Departure City | CHINO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| 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 | 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 | -- |