Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Mountain Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tehachapi, California 93561
Tuesady, August 3, 1993 17:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT WAS A TOW PLANE PILOT FOR SAILPLANES. ACCORDING TO HIS LOG BOOK, HE HAD PERFORMED 14 TOWS DURING THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT. DURING THE DAY HE HAD BORROWED SOME FUEL CONTAINERS TO PURCHASE AUTOMOBILE FUEL. HE THEN PLANNED TO DEPART IN THE EARLY EVENING FOR A CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT OF ABOUT 2 HRS. THE AIRPLANE DID NOT HAVE AN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OR LIGHTS. DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB, THE ENGINE QUIT. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE START TO TURN BACK TOWARD THE RUNWAY, AT WHICH TIME THE NOSE DROPPED AND THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE GROUND IN ABOUT AN 80 DEG NOSE-DOWN ATTITUDE. WRECKAGE EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT ALL 3 FUEL SELECTOR VALVES WERE IN THE OFF POSITION. THE AIRPLANE WAS ABOUT 29 LBS OVER MAX GROSS WEIGHT, AND THE AFT CENTER OF GRAVITY LIMIT WAS EXCEEDED BY ABOUT 0.5 INCHES. WITNESSES STATED THAT THE PILOT DID NOT PERFORM A RUNUP OR MAGNETO CHECK PRIOR TO TAKEOFF, AND THE ENGINE SOUNDED AS THOUGH IT WAS NOT DEVELOPING POWER.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FUEL STARVATION DUE TO THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO CORRECTLY POSITION THE FUEL SELECTOR PRIOR TO DEPARTURE, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED MARGIN ABOVE STALL WHILE ATTEMPTING TO RETURN TO THE RUNWAY. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO PERFORM A PREFLIGHT CHECK OR USE A PRETAKEOFF CHECKLIST, HIS FAILURE TO PROPERLY LOAD THE AIRCRAFT WITHIN THE ALLOWABLE WEIGHT AND CENTER OF GRAVITY LIMITS, AND PRESSURE TO COMPLETE THE FLIGHT PRIOR TO DARKNESS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TEHACHAPI |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93561 |
| 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 | MOUNTAIN VALLEY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L94 |
| 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 | 275 |
| Airport Elevation | 4220 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1846 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2347 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6500 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1728 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2040 |
| 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 | N95907 |
| NTSB Number | LAX93LA313 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | TAYLORCRAFT |
| Aircraft Model | BC-12D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BC-12D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8207 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | Jul 13 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 1260 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM B. NOBLIN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O.B. 335 |
| Aircraft Owner City | VINEBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95487 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | DAVID B. JOHNSON |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 705 3RD STREET |
| Operator City | SONOMA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95476 |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TRM |
| Destination City | THERMAL |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 | 27R |
| Runway Length | 5190 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |