Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rancho Murieta Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rancho Murieta, California 95683
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 9:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain about 1/4 mile short of the destination airport following a total loss of engine power. The student pilot reported that while conducting the airplane preflight inspection, the certified flight instructor (CFI) interrupted her requesting that she (the student) put some items in the baggage compartment. The student did not check the airplane's fuel quantity and could not recall if the instructor finished the preflight. Shortly thereafter, they departed for the 6-nautical-mile flight. While on the base leg of the traffic pattern at the destination airport, the engine lost power. The instructor took control of the airplane and attempted to land at the airport. The student pilot did not recall the instructor manipulating the fuel selector or turning the fuel pump on. A post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the left fuel tank was full of fuel and the right fuel tank was empty. The right fuel tank had not been breached and there was no evidence of leakage from other system components and lines. The fuel selector valve was positioned on the right tank. The airplane's manual states that takeoff is prohibited with less than 11 gallons in each tank. An examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of pre-mishap mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel starvation due to the inadequate fuel system management by both pilots. Also causal was the inadequate preflight inspection by both the instructor and student and their failure to verify the fuel quantities in each fuel tank, and, the instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rancho Murieta |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95683 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 382912N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1210610W |
| Event Location Airport | Rancho Murieta Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RIU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 141 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 845 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 96 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| 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) | 29.91 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20003 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 3 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SAC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1456L |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA258 |
| 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 | A23 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M-842 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 2530.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rancho Rotors |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7443 Murieta Dr. #A |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rancho Murieta |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95683 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CA20 |
| Departure City | Ione |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RIU |
| Destination City | Rancho Murieta |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - base leg/base to final |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2006 6:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 3800 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |