Dayton Valley Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dayton, Nevada 89403
Saturday, May 25, 2002 17:55 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with terrain short of the airport following a dual engine loss of power. The pilot reported verbally to the Safety Board that while on final approach to the uncontrolled airport the left engine quit. He secured the engine, then the right engine quit. At that point, the pilot realized that he was landing on the auxiliary fuel tanks, which were nearly empty, and the airplane was too low to attempt an engine restart. He stated that there were no malfunctions with the airplane or the engines, and that he had failed to change the fuel selectors to the main fuel tanks.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's failure to use a checklist and position the fuel selectors to tanks containing fuel.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/25/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1755
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Dayton
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89403
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 391416N
Event Location Longitude 1193326W
Event Location Airport Dayton Valley Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NV11
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 230
Airport Elevation 4412
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1756 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID RNO
Elevation of weather observation facility 4801
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 11000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 19
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 24
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) 15907
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 25 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1813
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 29 2004 7:30AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Reno, NV FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N588JL
NTSB Number LAX02LA177
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 310N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 310N-0092
Certified Max Gross Weight 5200
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thomas F. Mitchell
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Vacaville
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95688
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Larry M. Curtis
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Lompoc
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 93436
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 WVI
Departure City Watsonville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code A36
Destination City Dayton
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 17 2004 6:18PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 5
Runway Length 5400
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --