Cloverdale Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cloverdale, California 95425
Thursday, October 21, 2004 17:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted vineyard crops during a forced landing following a loss of engine power while in cruise flight. The flight was intended to be a 30-minute trip between local airports. The pilot had the left fuel tank selected at the time of the power loss, and turned on the boost pump and selected the right fuel tank. The pilot was able to obtain a surge of power momentarily, but nothing more. He then setup for landing at the nearest airport. Upon noting his glide ratio would not allow them to reach the airport, he concentrated on landing in the vineyard. The airplane impacted the crops and was arrested by the crop trellis wires. Post-accident examination of the engine revealed no anomalies that would have prevented its normal operation. The left fuel tank contained 1 gallon of fuel and 11 gallons were in the right fuel tank. When electrical power was applied to the system, the fuel gages read values consistent with the fuel quantities found in the tanks. The unusable fuel quantity for each tank is 1.3 gallons.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation from the pilot's inadequate fuel system management and his delay in selecting the fullest fuel tank.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/21/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Cloverdale
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95425
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 384634N
Event Location Longitude 1225934W
Event Location Airport Cloverdale
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O60
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 120
Airport Elevation 233
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 130
Weather Observation Facility ID STS
Elevation of weather observation facility 125
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 70
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) 29.78
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) 19209
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 21 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1756
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2006 12:35PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FSDO Oakland, California

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N18942
NTSB Number LAX05LA012
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 Beech
Aircraft Model C24R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number MC-549
Certified Max Gross Weight 2750
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 Jan 2 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 106.7
Airframe Hours 4338.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jeffrey M. Osier-Mixon
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Fort Bragg
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95437
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 O31
Departure City Healdsburg
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1720
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O48
Destination City Little River
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2005 2:30PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 32
Runway Length 3155
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --