Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Napa Co Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Napa, California 94558
Saturday, November 16, 2002 11:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power during a missed instrument approach, and the pilot had to ditch the airplane. The airplane came to rest inverted and sank. The flight originally departed a Southern California airport at 0715 on a flight to Napa. The pilot stated that he departed with full fuel tanks consisting of 40 gallons in the main wing tanks (a 20-gallon tank in each wing) and 14 gallons in the auxiliary tank. The pilot did not detect any problems with the airplane during the flight. Upon arriving in the vicinity of Napa he learned that the weather was below IFR minimums. He diverted to Angwin to wait for the weather to improve and landed about 0915. After the Napa weather improved, the pilot departed Angwin at 1030. The pilot said he did not refuel at Angwin and he determined that he had about 30 total gallons of fuel onboard. The pilot received an IFR clearance upon approaching APC. During the localizer approach into runway 36L, he was advised that he was too high and to execute a missed approach. As the flight began the missed approach, the controller issued a holding clearance and the pilot stated "...fuel's getting low..." as a result, the controller issued vectors to intercept the localizer into APC. During climb out, between 2,500 to 3,000 feet, the engine began to lose power. The pilot requested immediate vectors to APC. During this time, the pilot performed emergency operations: switching fuel tanks, engaging carburetor heat, checking mixture control, and engaging the fuel boost pump. This momentarily restored power, and the pilot advised the approach controller; however, within a few moments the engine again lost partial power. The engine completely lost engine power shortly thereafter. The pilot broke out of the cloud layer and was approximately 200 feet above ground level (agl) and found only water below him. The pilot advised the controller that he would be landing in the water and then executed a "slow, stalled landing." The aircraft came to rest inverted. The pilot freed himself from the airplane, and a passing fishing boat rescued him. A FAA inspector examined the airplane and found no evidence of damage or a malfunction that would have caused the engine to stop running. The FAA inspector was unable to determine if there had been fuel on board the airplane at the time of the accident due to water in the airplane's fuel system. Water was also in all of the airplane's systems. According to information provided by Textron Lycoming, the O-435-A engine's typical fuel consumption is 12 to 14 gallons per hour at 60 percent power, and 16 to 18 gallons per hour at 70 percent power. A carburetor icing chart indicated serious icing conditions were favorable during the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate management of the fuel system, which led to fuel starvation and a water ditching.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/16/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Napa |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94558 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380526N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221900W |
| Event Location Airport | Napa Co |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | APC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 170 |
| Airport Elevation | 33 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1054 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -463 |
| 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) | 16893 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 16 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N501A |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 14-19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2054 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Nov 7 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2933 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J. A. Brown |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Thousand Oaks |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91362 |
| 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 | 203 |
| Departure City | Angwin |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | APC |
| Destination City | Napa |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2004 1:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36L |
| Runway Length | 5961 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |