Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Paula Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Paula, California 93060
Sunday, November 24, 2002 15:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with an automobile during a forced landing on a road following a loss of engine power on final approach to land at the destination airport. Post-accident investigation revealed 5 to 6 gallons of fuel in the left tank and about 1.5 gallons of fuel in the right tank. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right tank. The operating handbook for the airplane states that during approach and landing, the fuel selector must be checked to ensure it is on the fullest tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the checklist and switch the fuel selector to the fullest tank for landing, which resulted in fuel starvation and loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/24/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1540 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SANTA PAULA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93060 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 342050N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1190340W |
| Event Location Airport | Santa Paula |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SZP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 245 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 75 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 458 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 2 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15930 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 24 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1548 |
| 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 | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2937M |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA038 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7816324 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 28 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 5080 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mohammad Rafifar |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hawthorne |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90250 |
| 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 | L35 |
| Departure City | BIG BEAR CITY |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SZP |
| Destination City | SANTA PAULA |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 27 2004 2:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |