Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Thermal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mecca, California 92254
Saturday, June 13, 1998 14:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had received approximately 2 hours of instruction in the accident aircraft before the accident flight. During climbout the fuel gage for the header tank was indicating a lowering trend, and when he leveled the aircraft to obtain another reading, he noted a lesser amount than expected. He attempted to make a precautionary landing at an alternate airport; however, 6 miles from the alternate airport the engine surged and lost power. The pilot attempted an unsuccessful restart, and made an emergency landing in a soft dirt field. The previous owner of the aircraft stated that on the day of the accident the aircraft was refueled out of a gas can, but he did not remember the amount of fuel. He stated that the aircraft carries approximately 16 gallons of fuel and the header tank has approximately 45 minutes of flight time. The previous owner stated that the transfer pump is supposed to be on at all times, and the fuel is transferred from the main tank to the header tank via a transfer pump. The header tank is supposed to remain full at all times through this procedure. A site gage is available and when the fuel drops below the green mark it indicates that the transfer pump is either not on or there is something wrong with it. When the transfer pump is off, a red caution light illuminates to let the pilot know that something is not working properly. According to a fueling log obtained from the local fuel company, two miscellaneous fuel sales were made on the day of the accident. One sale was for 10.8 gallons with no aircraft identifier, the other sale was for 5.2 gallons and was a cash sale in a gas can.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and his failure to ensure sufficient fuel was in the airplane, which subsequently led to fuel exhaustion. A related factor was the soft terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | MECCA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92254 |
| 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 | THERMAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | THM |
| 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 | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | -114 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1541 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 1820 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 13 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1609 |
| 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 | N824JC |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA194 |
| 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 | Scott |
| Aircraft Model | DRAGONFLY |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DRAGONFLY |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 910 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 350 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KENNETH R. HALLBAUER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 26343 SNOWDEN AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | REDLANDS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92374 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DOUGLAS HARRIS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2528 E. FILLMORE ST. |
| Operator City | PHOENIX |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85008 |
| 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 | RAL |
| Departure City | RIVERSIDE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHD |
| Destination City | CHANDLER |
| Destination State | AZ |
| 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 | -- |