Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Zamperini Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lomita, California 90717
Thursday, November 4, 2004 17:34 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power at night while the pilot was on short final for the runway during a 12-minute positioning flight between nearby airports, and the airplane collided with a house. Witnesses reported that the engine sound was quiet prior to impact with trees, power lines, and a house. The airplane came to rest inverted in the backyard of a residence. The total flight time since the last refueling of 40 gallons was 2.1 hours tachometer time. The owner estimated that when the 40 gallons were added, the fuel tanks would have been near empty. Fuel calculations based on charts in the Cessna Pilot's Operating Handbook indicated that approximately 30 gallons would have been used during the 2.1 hours. At the accident site, the intact right fuel tank contained about 8 ounces of fuel. The left fuel tank was breached but approximately 1 gallon was drained from the tank when it was moved for recovery and a strong odor of fuel was present in the soil beneath the airplane's left wing. The fuel selector was positioned to the right fuel tank. Prior to the airplane's departure on the accident flight, the owner noted that the fuel gauges were reading about 1/4 tank. The fuel line from the fuel pump to the engine was removed and a residual amount of fuel drained out. No control or operational anomalies were noted with the airplane, and the engine was test-run successfully. Interviews with friends of the pilot revealed that the pilot was to reposition the airplane over the previous days leading up to the accident, and that the owner had expressed his disapproval that the repositioning had not been done yet. According to the pilot's friends, the pilot had flown a twin engine Cessna earlier in the day. That evening, the accident pilot was delayed while waiting for a ferry airplane and pilot to arrive, in order to fly him to pickup the accident airplane. The certified flight instructor (CFI) that flew the accident pilot to pickup the airplane reported that immediately after dropping the pilot at the airplane, he began his return trip. The accident airplane was two airplanes behind the CFI during landing. As the CFI was taxiing to parking, he saw a flash of fire in the direction of the accident site. Besides the accident airplane, two other airplanes were for sale at the owners facility; one of these airplanes was the same make and model of the accident airplane. About 2 weeks prior to the accident, the owner of the aircraft sales company and the accident pilot refueled these two airplanes; however, the accident airplane was not refueled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's mismanagement and inadequate preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/4/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1734 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Lomita |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90717 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334742N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181932W |
| Event Location Airport | Zamperini Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TOA |
| 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 | 110 |
| Airport Elevation | 103 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TOA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 103 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19204 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 4 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1750 |
| 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 | WP-LGB-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N732RW |
| NTSB Number | LAX05FA026 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | T210M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21061723 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 21 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 2200.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sakakibara, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7595 Vickers St |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Diego |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jerry Hoke |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Torrance |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90504 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SNA |
| Departure City | Santa Ana |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1722 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TOA |
| Destination City | Torrance |
| 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 | Dec 8 2005 5:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29R |
| Runway Length | 5001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |