Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Orinda, California 94563
Wednesday, November 18, 1998 20:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight at 2,000 feet agl, the aircraft began losing power. About 2 minutes later, the engine lost power completely and the pilot was not able to restart the engine. The aircraft collided with a tree during the subsequent forced landing. The FAA inspector who responded to the site reported that she drained fuel from the tank sumps and gascolator and found the fuel to be contaminated with water at a ratio of approximately 35 percent water to 65 percent fuel. She reported that draining the gascolator also yielded grass and other debris. The carburetor contained about 50 milliliters of water, 2 milliliters of fuel and 8 milliliters of an unknown mold-like substance. The inspector reported that the right fuel tank gasket did not seal. The pilot had received 17 gallons of fuel before takeoff, and reported that the aircraft had been tied down on the ramp for about 3 weeks before the flight. The fuel truck was tested and was found to be within specifications. The pilot stated that he did not remember if he had drained fuel from the tank sumps or gascolator during the preflight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to water contamination of the fuel. A factor was the pilot's inadequate preflight, during which he neglected to note the contamination, and the dark night which made it difficult to select a landing spot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/18/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | ORINDA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94563 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Witness |
| 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 | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| 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 | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1569 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 18 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2048 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N48201 |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA034 |
| 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 | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15283300 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 8125 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLYING VIKINGS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 21587 SKYWEST DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HAYWARD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94541 |
| 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 | 0O4 |
| Departure City | CORNING |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HWD |
| Destination City | HAYWARD |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:56PM |
| 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 | -- |