Santa Barbara Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Barbara, California 93102
Wednesday, May 20, 1998 15:19 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On the final leg of the flight, the pilot had the fuel selector on the left fuel tank. He was on final approach when the engine quit and believed he was out of gas. He was unsuccessful in restarting the engine and he turned the aircraft away from the beach and ditched in the water. Aircraft recovery personnel reported both fuel tanks were found intact. He drained approximately 15 gallons of fuel from the right tank and found no fuel in the left tank.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's mismangement of the fuel by the improper position of the fuel tank selector.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/20/1998
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1519
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City SANTA BARBARA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93102
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SANTA BARBARA
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 2
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2153 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KSB
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 435
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 20 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1620
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:22AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6056B
NTSB Number LAX98LA168
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T210M
Aircraft Series Identifier T210M
Aircraft Serial Number 21062672
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 26 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 98
Airframe Hours 2591
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN MCINTYRE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 9201 E. 27TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City TUCSON
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85710
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 TOA
Departure City TORRANCE
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SBA
Destination City
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 --