Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sonoma County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Rosa, California 95403
Monday, December 24, 2001 18:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with power lines and landed in a vineyard about 1 mile south of Sonoma County Airport (STS), Santa Rosa, California, during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot noted about 20 gallons of fuel in the left tank and 15 gallons in the right tank during preflight. He flew from Petaluma, California, to Lakeport, California. The pilot was cruising at 5,500 feet on the return to Petaluma and began a descent when he was abeam Santa Rosa. He was well past Santa Rosa when the engine began to run rough; the right fuel gauge indicated 5 to 7 gallons. He switched from the right tank to the left tank, which now indicated 10 to 15 gallons, and the engine ran smoother. He continued toward Petaluma at an altitude of 3,000 feet, but could not visually acquire the airport's rotating beacon. He tried to activate the pilot controlled runway lights, but still could not visually identify the airport. He decided to fly back to Sonoma County Airport. He lost and regained power five times as he headed to Sonoma County Airport. The Air Traffic Control Tower advised him that a vineyard was south of the airport. The pilot could not see the landing area because of the darkness, but headed toward the dark field. He contacted power lines just prior to touchdown, but landed upright in the vineyard. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The recovery agent did not observe any fuel in either tank, and no fuel drained out of the fuel lines when they were disconnected during disassembly for transport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight and in-flight planning/decision resulting in miscalculation of fuel consumption, fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power. Factors were rough terrain in a vineyard, power lines in the landing area, and night time.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/24/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SANTA ROSA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95403 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SONOMA COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | STS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 125 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 125 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| 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) | 14037 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 24 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1858 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-OAK-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1309M |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA055 |
| 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 | T210M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21061943 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3500 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 18 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 114 |
| Airframe Hours | 4844 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WALTER C. KOHN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MENLO PARK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94025 |
| 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 | 1O2 |
| Departure City | LAKEPORT |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1745 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | O69 |
| Destination City | PETALUMA |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2003 2:21PM |
| 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 | -- |