Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blackinton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Valley Center, California 92082
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 13:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the engine experienced a loss of power while en route, and the airplane collided with a dirt berm while he attempted a forced landing at a private airstrip. With the flaps in the retracted position, he attempted to land on the dirt runway. While on the landing roll, he was unable to stop the airplane before colliding with a hill at the end of the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the airplane about an hour after the accident occurred. He did not see any skid marks to indicate emergency braking action. He also saw no signs of fuel at the accident site. He visually checked the inside of the fuel tanks and found that both were empty. Neither of the fuel tanks were breached during the accident. He also noted that the airplane's fuel gauges were inoperable. The pilot told him that the fuel indictors do not work, but he visually checked the quantity before flights. He added that he uses automobile fuel, which has no color, and therefore, is difficult to verify quantity.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation by not verifying the fuel supply, and his inadequate in-flight planning/decision, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power. A factor in the accident was the pilot's decision to initiate flight with a known equipment deficiency (inoperative fuel quantity gauge).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/25/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Valley Center |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92082 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331530N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1170500W |
| Event Location Airport | Blackinton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 2CA4 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1156 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 326 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KRNM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1401 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3959 |
| 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) | 18995 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 25 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAN-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N60LW |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA296 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Whetzel |
| Aircraft Model | Thorpe T-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1109 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lawrence Whetzel |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Poway |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92064 |
| 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 | RNM |
| Departure City | Ramona Airport |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1240 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 2CA4 |
| Destination City | Valley Center |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 4 2005 2:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2200 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |