Hesperia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hesperia, California 92345
Tuesady, July 31, 2001 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted wires and terrain following a loss of engine power while maneuvering near an airport. The commercial pilot planned a 4 hour 45 minute flight with 5 hours 20 minutes of fuel on board. When the pilot arrived at his destination airport, he was unable to locate the airport because of poor visibility. The pilot then diverted to another airport, and activated its pilot controlled runway lighting; however, the runway lights only remained illuminated for 5 minutes, then went out. The pilot attempted to reactivate the runway lights, but was unsuccessful. The pilot became concerned about the fuel situation and descended toward the ground in an attempt to locate the runway. The engine lost power and the airplane impacted wires approximately 0.6 miles west of the airport. The sheriff deputy, who responded to the accident site and interviewed the pilot, indicated he flew within 0.6 miles of the diversion airport approximately 1 month after the accident, and attempted to illuminate the pilot controlled runway lights. According to the deputy, he was unsuccessful in activating the runway lights after several attempts from various locations around the airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion while maneuvering in an attempt to locate the runway. Contributing factors were the inadequate runway maintenance that resulted in inoperative runway edge lights, and the night light conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/31/2001
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 38
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Hesperia
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92345
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 342000N
Event Location Longitude 1171937W
Event Location Airport Hesperia
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L26
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.6
Degrees magnetic from airport 270
Airport Elevation 3390
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 54 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 30
Weather Observation Facility ID DAG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1927
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 38
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 26
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.82
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15296
NTSB Notification Source
NTSB Notification Date Jul 31 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 239
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 28 2004 3:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5346W
NTSB Number LAX01LA265
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-150
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-405
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald A. Moore
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Upland
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91784
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 RDD
Departure City Redding
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1928
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code L26
Destination City Hesperia
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 9 2004 4:04PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 3
Runway Length 3910
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --