Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Calaveras County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Andreas, California 95249
Friday, June 26, 1998 14:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness to the accident reported that the airport is located on a plateau and that the surrounding area is not suitable for an off-field landing. The witness reported that he observed the airplane takeoff and as it passed by it looked and sounded normal. He returned to his hangar and heard the engine go to idle. The witness went outside and observed the aircraft losing altitude as it made a 180-degree turn to attempt a return to the runway. The witness reported that the engine caught and sounded as if it was at full power, the airplane regained some altitude, and then the engine stopped. The airplane descended into the ground short of the runway. The pilot stated that he had completed work on the fuel selector handle and had inadvertently reversed the handle when he reinstalled it into the airplane. When he selected the main tank with the fuel selector handle, the fuel valve for the main tank would have been closed and the fuel valve for the aft tank would have been open. The pilot stated that he had refueled the main tank, but the aft tank did not have enough fuel in it to keep the engine running.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper reinstallation of the fuel selector valve handle, which led to the selection of the wrong fuel tank and fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/26/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN ANDREAS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95249 |
| 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 | CALAVERAS COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0O3 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1325 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SCK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 22 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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) | 1825 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 26 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| 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 | N1400Z |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA212 |
| 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 | North American |
| Aircraft Model | NAVION |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NAVION |
| Aircraft Serial Number | NAV4-1657 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 2970 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLES F. SEITZ JR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1547 MONO CT. |
| Aircraft Owner City | COPPEROPOLIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95228 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 0O3 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| 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 | 31 |
| Runway Length | 3603 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |