Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Olancha, California 93549
Wednesday, August 16, 2000 7:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While in the cruise portion of a positioning flight, the engine lost power. During the forced landing on a dirt road, which had shoulders higher than the roadbed, the lower left wing dug into a dirt shoulder and the airplane nosed over. The pilot told the deputy he thought the airplane might be out of fuel. The deputy did not observe fuel leaking on the ground or any wet spots under the inverted airplane. After the airplane was righted during recovery, the Federal Aviation Administration accident coordinator noted 3 gallons of fuel were drained from the fuel system. The operator said this represented the unusable fuel quantity for this airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and fuel consumption calculations, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/16/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 715
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City OLANCHA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93549
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 656 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID BIH
Elevation of weather observation facility 4120
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 69
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
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) 63
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 34
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10583
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 16 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Sep 27 2001 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6543R
NTSB Number LAX00LA304
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 Schweizer
Aircraft Model G-164B
Aircraft Series Identifier G-164B
Aircraft Serial Number 362B
Certified Max Gross Weight 4500
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 17 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 8846
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SAN JOAQUIN HELICOPTERS
Aircraft Owner Street Address RT 1, BOX 422
Aircraft Owner City DELANO
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93215
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 CUFG
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code DLO
Departure City DELANO
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 550
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O26
Destination City LONE PINE
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 3 2001 4:00AM
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 --