Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lancaster, California 93535
Friday, May 14, 2004 12:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted sagebrush during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The commercial pilot reported he was in cruise flight at 1,000 feet above the ground when the engine lost power. The pilot reported the loss of power was "in a manner indicative of fuel starvation." The pilot switched fuel tanks from the auxiliary fuel tank to the right main fuel tank and attempted an engine restart with the wobble pump. The pilot obtained an engine surge, but no power. He switched to the left main fuel tank and utilized the wobble pump again, to no avail. The pilot then set up for the forced landing in desert terrain. Post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed there was no fuel present in the auxiliary fuel tank, while the left and right main fuel tanks had 10 and 15 gallons of fuel, respectively. No fuel was present in the gascolator, the carburetor, and any of the fuel lines forward of the firewall. The aircraft's operation manual indicates that the auxiliary fuel tank should not be completely emptied in flight because it will result in air being pumped into the fuel line.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's fuel mismanagement by his failure to follow the recommended procedures for operation of the auxiliary fuel tank, which resulted in fuel starvation and loss of engine power during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lancaster |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93535 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1180000W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2348 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17011 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 14 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1534 |
| 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 | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Van Nuys, CA FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7658B |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA210 |
| 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 | Downer |
| Aircraft Model | Bellanca 14-19-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4009 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2700 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Oscar A. Levi |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2358 West K |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lancaster |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93536 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | WJF |
| Departure City | Lancaster |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 26 2004 7:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LABJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |