Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Catalina Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Avalon, California 90704
Friday, May 20, 2005 17:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a total loss of engine power during cruise flight and impacted the ground during the ensuing forced landing. The pilot had flown from Long Beach to Catalina, whereupon he had lunch. The pilot said he believed he had 17 gallons in each tank when he left Long Beach. The pilot did not refuel the airplane at Catalina and did not visually verify the quantity of fuel in the airplane's two wing fuel tanks before taking off. After flying for several minutes, the engine lost power. The pilot noted one fuel tank gauge registered "empty," and the other gauge registered 1/4- and then 1/8-tank of fuel remaining. Engine power was briefly restored, and then it was finally completely lost. The pilot attempted a forced landing on the runway, but impacted the ground before reaching it. According to the aircraft rental firm's records, when the accident pilot departed Long Beach the airplane had previously been operated 2.1 hours since its last refueling to the level of the filler neck 17-gallon indicator tabs. Post crash, the airplane's recording hour meter registered that the pilot had flown for 1.4 hours for a combined total of 3.5 hours since last refueling.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight and failure to refuel the airplane prior to takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Avalon |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90704 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332418N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182457W |
| Event Location Airport | Catalina |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AVX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1602 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AVX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1602 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 29.92 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20111 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 20 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 10:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Long Beach, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3004U |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA183 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7990331 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 9814 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Candace A. Larned Enterprises, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2631 Spring Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Long Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90806 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Long Beach Flying Club & Flight Academy |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | AVX |
| Departure City | Avalon |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGB |
| Destination City | Long Beach |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 18 2006 5:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |