Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taft, California 93268
Sunday, January 30, 2000 15:58 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot became disoriented after encountering clouds near his destination airport and ran out of fuel while he was in the process of finding a place to land. The aircraft then nosed over after encountering soft soil during the forced landing. The pilot stated that he did not obtain a preflight weather briefing or in-flight weather advisories. The pilot said another pilot in the departure airport terminal obtained a weather briefing and told him the weather was good for now but that conditions would get worse around Los Angeles later in the day. Following departure, the flight was uneventful until he reached the high desert area north of his destination and he found that the coastal mountains between the high desert and his destination were obscured by clouds. He then decided to proceed to a VOR close to his destination in the hopes that the airport would be open. Upon reaching the VOR, the pilot could not find a clear route and elected to return to the high desert area and land at an airport there. He stated that after dialing in the VOR radial to take him to the alternate he became confused over the "TO/FROM" indicator and ended up flying in the wrong direction. When he realized where he was, he believed he did not have enough fuel to fly back over the mountains and was looking for an airport when he ran out of fuel. Review of NWS data disclosed that AIRMET Sierra was in effect at the time of the pilot's departure. The forecast called for occasional ceilings below 1,000 feet and visibility's below 3 miles in the coastal areas. Mountain obscuration in clouds, precipitation, and fog was also predicted for the coastal mountain ranges. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airframe or engine. The pilot obtained his private pilot certificate 10 days prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misinterpretation of his VOR navigation indicator, which subsequently led to his becoming lost and disoriented while navigating to an alternate airport and resulted in fuel exhaustion. The pilot's failure to obtain either a preflight weather briefing or in-flight weather advisories was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/30/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1558 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | TAFT |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93268 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1625 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 507 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 52 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 50 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11173 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 1 2000 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 14 2001 9:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25573 |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA083 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15280739 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | Nov 30 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 64 |
| Airframe Hours | 7489 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | YABE HIROSHI |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | VAN NUYS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91406 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GROUP 3 AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 16425 HART STREET |
| Operator City | VAN NUYS |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 91406 |
| 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 | IFP |
| Departure City | BULLHEAD CITY |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VNY |
| Destination City | VAN NUYS |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 1 2001 4:45AM |
| 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 | -- |