Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chowchilla, California 93610
Monday, September 19, 2005 13:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with a pole during a forced landing on a road following a loss of engine power. Prior to departure, the pilot filled his main tanks and tip tanks and indicated that his auxiliary fuel tank had been previously filled. Normally, the pilot would fill up his auxiliary fuel tank or the tip tanks, but not both at the same time. The pilot said his habit was to rotate between using the auxiliary tank and the tip tanks about every 3 to 4 months. Because he had been using the auxiliary fuel tank for the last several months, he decided to use the wing tip tanks for this flight. The pilot did not run the engine from the tip tanks prior to departing the airport. About 40 minutes into the flight he switched from the main fuel tank to the right tip tank. Prior to selecting the tip tank, he turned on the auxiliary fuel pump. As had happened in the past when he had not used the wing tip tanks for an extended period, he expected the engine to sputter and then restart. However, on this occasion, after the engine sputtered, it did not restart. The pilot then switched the fuel selector back to the main tank and verified that he was getting fuel pressure, but the engine would not restart. On-scene examination by the Federal Aviation Administration did not reveal any mechanical anomalies. Fuel was found in all four fuel tanks. Follow-up examination of the airplane's fuel system showed that the lines and tanks were free from obstruction with no contamination evident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/19/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Chowchilla
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93610
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 370856N
Event Location Longitude 1201105W
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 1253 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID MCE
Elevation of weather observation facility 156
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20186
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 19 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-FAT-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N91597
NTSB Number LAX05LA303
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name North American
Aircraft Model Navion A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number NAV-4-369
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 21.09
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Dennis B. Dooley
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Angels Camp
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95222
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 CPU
Departure City Calaveras Cty
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1220
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code RNM
Destination City Ramona
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 2 2006 6:06PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --