Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Burbank, California 91501
Saturday, June 16, 2001 19:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After waiting about 55 minutes for a fuel truck to service his airplane, the pilot noted that the airplane's fuel tank gauges registered 1/4-full, so he took off on the banner tow flight. Fuel exhaustion occurred about 26 minutes later. Unable to reach the nearest airport, the pilot made a forced landing on a hillside. A police officer examined the airplane and reported that no fuel was found in its tanks. The pilot indicated that no mechanical malfunction or failure had precipitated the loss of engine power. The pilot had about 4,000 hours of flight time, of which 1,100 hours were acquired flying the Cessna 150. He held a certified flight instructor certificate for airplanes, an instrument rating, and an airframe and engine powerplant certificate.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fuel exhaustion while maneuvering during a banner tow flight due to an inadequate fuel supply. A factor was the pilot's improper preflight preparation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/16/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1945
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Burbank
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91501
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 341148N
Event Location Longitude 1181805W
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 1953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID BUR
Elevation of weather observation facility 775
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
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) 12192
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 16 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2002
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2002 10:10AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO Van Nuys, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3937U
NTSB Number LAX01LA213
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 150E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15061337
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 Jun 18 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 79
Airframe Hours 6362
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Darrell D. Latham
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City West Hills
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91304
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Red Baron Air
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 12653 Osborne Street
Operator City Pacoima
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 91331
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) Other Work Use
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 1915
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code WHP
Destination City Los Angeles
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 9 2002 3:25PM
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 --