Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fullerton Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fullerton, California 92833
Tuesady, April 11, 2000 12:07 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The single engine airplane impacted a house after experiencing a loss of control while returning to land. The commercial pilot reported to air traffic controllers that the cabin door came open during takeoff. The pilot was attempting to return the airplane to the departure runway when the air traffic controller heard the pilot's voice say, "Emergency, I've got . . ." Witnesses observed black smoke emanating from the exhaust stack. One witness observed the airplane flying low and slow at a high angle of attack with the landing gear extended. He then observed the airplane stall and spin, rotating 1.5 times before losing site of the airplane. Another witness, who was located near the accident site, stated the engine stopped making noise prior to the accident. The airplane impacted a power line and home in a residential area. No anomalies were noted with the airplane and engine that would have prevented its operation; however, the engine did display signatures of operation with an excessively rich mixture. The auxiliary fuel pump, which was unguarded and located adjacent to the landing gear selector switch, was found in the HI position. Operation with the auxiliary fuel pump in the HI position, with an operative engine-driven fuel pump, can result in a complete loss of engine power once the pilot reduced power for landing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while in the traffic pattern, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. Contributing factor was the pilot's diverted attention with the loss of engine power from his inadvertent activation of the auxiliary fuel pump, and the open cabin door.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/11/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1207 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fullerton |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92833 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1175800W |
| Event Location Airport | Fullerton Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FUL |
| 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 | 135 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FUL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 96 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 12985 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 11 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2003 4:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6791P |
| NTSB Number | LAX00FA151 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | B36TC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B36TC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | EA-404 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 3 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1028.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William Garvin Lofton, III |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sherman Oaks |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91403 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | FUL |
| Departure City | Fullerton |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1203 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VNY |
| Destination City | Van Nuys |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 29 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 3121 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |