Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hinkley, California 92347
Saturday, September 2, 2000 13:59 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The purpose of the flight was to ferry the airplane to another airport, approximately 20 minutes away, for repairs. The airplane departed the first airport at 0930 the day of the accident, and traveled to the accident site approximately 76 sm away. At 1400, the sheriff's department was notified of an airplane accident and subsequently responded to the location. When the deputy interviewed the pilot, he stated that he had been flying for 2 1/2 hours and was confused as to where he was and how he had gotten there. The pilot reported that he made a forced landing when he noted that his fuel tank gage read empty. He landed on a dirt road and on the landing rollout struck a berm, became airborne again, and came to rest on the main landing gear after colliding with an obstruction. Retrieval personnel reported that they recovered 2 gallons of fuel per wing. According to the aircraft manufacturer, the airplane has a total fuel capacity of 50 gallons; usable fuel is 24.5 gallons in each fuel tank, and .5 gallons of fuel in each fuel tank is unusable. Fuel burn at 2,300-2,400 rpm's was approximately 10 gallons per hour with endurance of about 4.9 hours of flight time. The accident was reported about 1 month later after the airplane was established to have substantial damage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion when the pilot became lost and disoriented.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/2/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1359
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City HINKLEY
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92347
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 9
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 1357 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 292
Weather Observation Facility ID DAG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1927
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 23
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 16000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 35
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 108
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 45
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10925
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 4 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1300
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2001 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N30955
NTSB Number LAX00LA356
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 177B
Aircraft Series Identifier 177B
Aircraft Serial Number 17701565
Certified Max Gross Weight 2500
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 21 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 26
Airframe Hours 1518
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name EDWARD A. KARSH
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City PALM SPRINGS
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92262
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) Ferry
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PSP
Departure City PALM SPRINGS
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1159
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code L22
Destination City YUCCA VALLEY
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 19 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 --