Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Groveland, California 95321
Sunday, August 14, 2005 7:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Following fuel exhaustion in cruise flight, the pilot made a forced landing in an open field. The pilot elected to land with the landing gear retracted. The airplane was substantially damaged as it slid to a stop and hit a fence. The pilot said that prior to takeoff he believed he had 18 gallons of fuel onboard for the trip that he calculated would require 8 gallons. Upon his examination of the airplane the pilot noted that the fuel quantity sensors were improperly calibrated. The pilot reported that he did not experience any malfunction or failure with his airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inaccurate fuel quantity sensors and the pilot's failure to verify the fuel quantity on board prior to takeoff, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 740 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Groveland |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95321 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 375037N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1291516W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KMCE 141553Z AUTO 33008KT 9SM CLR 18/12 A2984 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20185 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 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 | San Jose, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N508DB |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA267 |
| 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 | Barnes |
| Aircraft Model | Lancair Legacy |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | L2K-198 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 110 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald H. Barnes |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Jose |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95125 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RHV |
| Departure City | San Jose |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | E45 |
| Destination City | Groveland |
| 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 | Jun 12 2006 6:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |