Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mefford Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tipton, California 93272
Friday, May 7, 2004 13:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The single engine experimental airplane collided with terrain after experiencing a loss of engine power. About 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot selected an area to make a forced landing. He identified some power lines that were in the selected landing area so he diverted the airplane to a highway and landed gear up. To avoid a truck, the pilot veered the plane off the highway and into rough terrain where the wing struck a tree. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector supervised an airframe and engine examination. The engine was a Diemech M601D turboprop. He determined that the airplane had fuel in its fuel tank when it landed. He found air in the engine's fuel control system. Maintenance technicians bled the fuel control and fuel pump. They then completed a test run of the engine without incident. The owner/pilot said that because air was found in the fuel control unit there was a possible design flaw in the way fuel is delivered from the fuel tank to the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of air migrating into the fuel control unit. The ultimate reason for the air entry into the fuel control unit was not determined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/7/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1320 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tipton |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93272 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360459N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191504W |
| Event Location Airport | Mefford Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KTLR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 271 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1415 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KVIS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 313 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 17987 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-Fresno, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N724TL |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA204 |
| 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 | Rocket Flyers |
| Aircraft Model | LLC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 007 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 16 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 72.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rocket Flyers LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4266 Felter Ln |
| Aircraft Owner City | Austin |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78774 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Steve R. Jackson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Austin |
| Operator State | TN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78734 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KE60 |
| Departure City | Eloy |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KTLR |
| Destination City | Mefford |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2005 2:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |