Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mariposa, California 95338
Friday, June 5, 1998 14:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The day before the pilot's flight he checked his airplane and determined that its right fuel tank was full of fuel, and the left tank was 'down 2 to 3 gallons.' The following morning a preflight inspection was performed, no fuel was added, and the pilot took off from Mariposa, California. After flying about 1:20 hours, the pilot landed at Bakersfield and ate lunch. Thereafter, he took off for a return flight to Mariposa. En route, the pilot cruised at 6,500 feet msl and overflew Fresno, a community with several airports. The pilot observed the airplane's fuel gauges, switched tanks, and continued heading toward Mariposa. About 35 miles past Fresno, all engine power was lost. A ground-based witness heard the pilot transmit a distress call indicating that he was out of fuel. The pilot attempted to make a forced landing on a highway, but on approach collided with trees. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure was found during an examination of the airplane. Fuel system continuity was established, with no ruptures evident to any line or tank. The FAA reported that the amount of fuel observed remaining in the fuel tanks was less than 1 gallon and was in the unusable range. A few drops of fuel were observed in the gascolator. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented had he refueled (before departure) at Bakersfield.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning, and improper in-flight decision not to make a precautionary landing for additional fuel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/5/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | MARIPOSA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95338 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1146 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 5 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1526 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2573L |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA183 |
| 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 | 172H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17255773 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Oct 10 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMAS R. WENTWORTH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 45125 BIG OAK LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | OAKHURST |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93644 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NA |
| Departure City | BAKERSFIELD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 068 |
| 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 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |