Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Big Bear City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Bear, California 92315
Saturday, August 7, 1993 16:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT SAID TO A WEATHER BRIEFER THAT HE MAY STOP EN ROUTE, AND THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING AN APPROACH TO AN AIRPORT APPROXIMATELY MIDWAY BETWEEN THE DEPARTURE AND DESTINATION AIRPORTS. THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH TREES AND POWER LINES WHILE ON FINAL APPROACH. A PILOT WITNESS WATCHED THE AIRCRAFT IN THE PATTERN AND NOTED THAT THE AIRCRAFT WAS FLYING A CLOSE IN DOWNWIND AND BASE CONTRARY TO NOISE ABATEMENT PROCEDURES AND HIS TURNS WERE VERY STEEP. THE PILOT STATED TO PARAMEDICS THAT HE HAD LOST POWER ON FINAL. THE AIRCRAFT HAS FIVE SELECTABLE FUEL TANKS. THE MAIN SELECTOR WAS FOUND ON THE LEFT MAIN TANK. THE LEFT TANK WAS OF AN ORIGINAL DESIGN UNBAFFLED CONFIGURATION, WHICH WAS ON THE INSIDE OF ALL THE TRAFFIC PATTERN TURNS. THE AIRCRAFT FLIGHT MANUAL CAUTIONS AGAINST PROLONGED TURNS OR SLIPS WITH LESS THAN 10 GALLONS IN THE SELECTED TANK. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF A PREIMPACT MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO UNPORTING OF THE SELECTED MAIN FUEL TANK AT A CRITICAL TIME, WHICH WAS CAUSED BY THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIVES IN THE FLIGHT MANUAL REGARDING PROLONGED TURNS OR SLIPS WITH LESS THAN 10 GALLONS IN THE SELECTED TANK.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1635 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BIG BEAR |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92315 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BIG BEAR CITY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L35 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 80 |
| Airport Elevation | 6748 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1700 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 255 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | L35 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6750 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8900 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1418 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3233C |
| NTSB Number | LAX93FA315 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | E35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | E35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-3898 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2725 |
| 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 | Mar 15 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PHILIP LOWELL LONG TRUST |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1035 E. 41ST STREET, #37 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TULSA |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74105 |
| 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 | MOD |
| Departure City | MODESTO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1438 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PHX |
| Destination City | PHOENIX |
| Destination State | AZ |
| 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 | 26 |
| Runway Length | 5850 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |