Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rio Bravo Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bakersfield, California 93301
Sunday, August 25, 2002 19:44 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The ex-military jet trainer experienced a dual engine flame out during cruise flight and it collided with multiple obstacles during an attempted forced landing to a closed airport. The airplane had not flown for 5 years until a new owner bought it. After an annual inspection, the airplane was to be flown from Lewiston, Idaho, to Los Angeles, California, in two legs. The first leg from Lewiston to Minden, Nevada, used 352 gallons of fuel (full fuel is 367 gallons) and when the airplane arrived, the hydraulic gear extension system malfunctioned and the gear was extended using the emergency blow down system. The pilot then decided to continue on the second leg with the gear locked in the down position. Ninety minutes into the second leg the pilot became concerned about the amount of fuel remaining and was diverting to Bakersfield when both engines flamed out. The pilot was attempting a dead stick landing at a closed airport when the right wing struck the ground and then the left wing struck a telephone pole. First responders noted about 80 gallons of fuel had spilled on the ground from the separated left tip tank. No fuel was found in the right tip tank or either of the fuselage tanks. The fuel system consists of two tip tanks; one aft fuselage tank, and a forward fuselage tank. The tip tanks, which feed only into the aft fuselage tank, are used by porting engine bleed air to the tanks through a pneumatic switch in the cockpit. The switch has positions for LEFT, RIGHT, BOTH and OFF. The forward and aft fuselage tanks are fed to the engines by conventional boost pumps. The proper fuel tank usage sequence is to select the aft fuselage tank while selecting and pressurizing both tip tanks, which then replenish the aft fuselage tank. When the fuel from the both tip tanks and the aft fuselage tank is used, then the forward fuselage tank is selected. Without at least one engine operating, bleed air is not available to pressurize the tip tanks to use any fuel remaining there. No discrepancies were found during an examination of the airframe, engines, or the fuel system components, including the tip tank pressurization system, the boost pumps, or selector valves/switches. The passenger, who holds pilot and A & P certificates stated that the pilot was individually selecting the tip tanks (left or right) during flight and did not use the BOTH position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper fuel system management, which lead to fuel starvation, and a loss of engine power. A factor in the accident was the pilot's decision to continue on the second leg of the flight with the gear in the extended position, which increased the fuel consumption and reduced the aircraft's available range.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/25/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1944 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bakersfield |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93301 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 354100N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1183559W |
| Event Location Airport | Rio Bravo |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | L91 |
| 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 | 830 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1954 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 507 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17740 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 25 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2034 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FAT-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N232DS |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA264 |
| 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 | Hispano Aviacion |
| Aircraft Model | HA-200 SAETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E.14A-16 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7300 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 24 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Frederick M. Espiau |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Topanga |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90290 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MEV |
| Departure City | Minden |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WHP |
| Destination City | Los Angeles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |