Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Marin Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Rafael, California 94901
Friday, October 3, 2003 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft collided with the ground short of the runway while attempting a forced landing following a loss of power in the takeoff initial climb. Witnesses reported after the airplane was airborne, the airplane engine started to "sputter" and the airplane turned back towards the airport. As the airplane touched down the wing tip touched the ground and airplane cartwheeled. The pilot said that he aborted his first takeoff after an indication of low fuel pressure. The pilot taxied back and did another run up. He was unable to determine, or duplicate, the fuel pressure abnormality observed during the first takeoff roll and elected to attempt a second takeoff. During the takeoff initial climb the engine started to sputter and lost power. The pilot attempted to turn back towards the runway, but the airplane had insufficient altitude and collided with the ground short of the pavement. The last pilot to fly the accident airplane told investigators that he had refueled the airplane to capacity at a nearby airport located 26 nm northeast of this airport. He stated that when he secured the airplane in his hangar the left fuel tank was 1/3 full, and the right fuel tank was 3/4 full. He said no one had flown the airplane since. During the accident sequence the left wing separated from the fuselage and the outboard 1/3 of the right wing was folded over. The gascolator and left fuel tanks were breeched and no fuel was found. The first responders, including fire and police units, to the accident scene did not see any fuel, nor did they detect the odor of fuel. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident site and examined the wreckage. The inspector was unable to locate any evidence of fuel in the remaining aircraft system components or spillage on the ground. Following recovery from the accident site, a test run of the engine was accomplished while it was still mounted in the airframe. An external fuel source was engineered to deliver fuel directly to the inlet line of the carburetor. The engine was started using the aircraft's own starter switch and engine controls. The engine started and was run up to 1,300 rpm where it was operated for approximately 1 minute, then shut down. Oil pressure during the engine operation was observed to be in the green arc, approximately 60 psi.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Rafael |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94901 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380112N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223058W |
| Event Location Airport | MARIN RANCH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CA35 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CCR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 26 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17181 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1550 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP- FSDO- Oakland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N183DB |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA004 |
| 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-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7305076 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 2500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Duane E. Strong |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lakeport |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95453 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CA35 |
| Departure City | San Rafael |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1O2 |
| Destination City | LAKEPORT |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 04 |
| Runway Length | 2140 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |