Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rio Linda Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Linda, California 95673
Wednesday, March 27, 2002 7:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane landed "flat and hard" off the end of the runway then slid into a creek bed after a loss of engine power in the takeoff initial climb. Ground witnesses said the airplane achieved about 100 feet of altitude after liftoff then the engine coughed and lost power. The pilot said that he ran the engine up off the tip tanks, and after he was satisfied that the engine was running smoothly, switched to the left main tank for takeoff. After the engine coughed and quit, he switched on the electric auxiliary fuel pump and ensured that he was operating off the left main tank, but did not have time to attempt a restart. A California Highway Patrol pilot officer was the first to arrive on the accident scene and turned the tip tank fuel selector valve from the LEFT to the OFF position. Subsequent examination of the selector panel by an FAA inspector found the main fuel valve in the right main tank position; however, this was after the fire department said it's personnel had "moved several switches and levers" in order to secure the cockpit. Fuel tank documentation found that the left and right mains contained about 7.5 gallons and 5 gallons, respectively; the left tip tank was empty, and the right tip tank destroyed. There was no sign of fuel leakage on the ground below the left tip tank. The fuel supply line to the carburetor was loosened and about 1 tablespoon of fuel was recovered from the line. The Owner's Manual states several times that "in no case should a takeoff be made if the fuel indicators are in the yellow band or, with less than 10 gallons of fuel in each of the main tanks." According to Raytheon Aircraft, this warning is due to the location of the fuel pickups in the tanks on this model aircraft, which would allow unporting and fuel supply interruption with steep attitudes, turning type ground maneuvers during takeoffs, or uncoordinated flight. Following recovery of the airplane to a salvage yard, the engine was mounted on a test stand, and it started on the first attempt and accelerated smoothly with normal throttle response and magneto operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power as a result of fuel starvation due to the pilot's inadequate fuel system management and failure to follow procedures and directives in the Pilot Operating Handbook listed by the manufacturer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/27/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 715 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Rio Linda |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95673 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384030N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1212640W |
| Event Location Airport | Rio Linda Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q94 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 45 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 653 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 275 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSMF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14949 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 27 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA AWP FSDO Sacramento, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8428A |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA117 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D1842 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 29 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 5070 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lyle D. Marshall |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rio Linda |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95673 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Q94 |
| Departure City | Rio Linda |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 719 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CCR |
| Destination City | Concord |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2003 4:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2625 |
| Runway Width | 42 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |