Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mariposa, California 95338
Friday, May 25, 2001 15:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion after 2.1 hours of flight and 16-miles before reaching the intended destination. The pilot attributed the fuel exhaustion to an interruption that occurred during his (self) fueling of the aircraft, which resulted in the fuel tanks not being totally full on takeoff. As he was filling the left wing fuel tank before takeoff, the pilot was interrupted by another pilot who asked his assistance with operation of the self-fueling equipment. He completed filling the left tank and stopped to assist the other pilot. He returned to his airplane about 10 or 15 minutes later, filled the right-wing tank, and departed. The pilot believed that, during the interruption, a portion of the fuel in the left tank flowed across the aircraft to the right tank and, after he filled the right tank, the left tank was approximately 5 gallons below capacity. He reported making the same trip regularly. Assuming a zero to 5-knot headwind, the trip routinely required 20.3 or 20.4 gallons to complete. The aircraft had been modified to install a larger engine than the original and had a 24-gallon usable fuel capacity. The pilot reported that, on past flights at the same altitude and power setting, the engine consumed 9.17 gallons per hour (2.6 hours endurance).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to properly refuel the aircraft which resulted in departure with an inadequate quantity of fuel onboard. A factor in the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight preparation and planning, which failed to provide an adequate fuel reserve for the flight intended.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/25/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1520 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mariposa |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95338 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 1653 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 227 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMER |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 188 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11088 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 25 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1811 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fresno, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23474 |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA192 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15068974 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Mar 26 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 1830 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Louis Elsworth Fricke Trust |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Newhall |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91321 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | WHP |
| Departure City | LOS ANGELES |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | Q68 |
| Destination City | GROVELAND |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 10 2001 1:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |