Kern Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kernville, California 93238
Wednesday, September 21, 2005 8:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with obstacles off the departure end of the runway following a loss of engine power in the takeoff initial climb. The airplane took off and reached an altitude of 30 feet when the engine and propeller stopped. The airplane touched down about 150 feet from the end of the runway, overran the pavement, and collided with multiple obstacles. Examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector was in the left tank position. The right wing fuel tank filler cap was removed and the tank was observed to be nearly full. The left wing had partially separated from the wing root and the fuel line was broken at that location. The left wing fuel tank filler cap was removed and the tank was observed to be nearly empty. When the left wing was tilted, approximately 1 quart of fluid was observed to drain out. There was no visual evidence or odor of fuel in the ground beneath the left wing. An Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) mechanic examined the airplane's fuel system and reported that there was no fuel found in the fuel line between the engine driven fuel pump and the carburetor. He found about a teaspoon of fuel in the carburetor bowl. He operated the electric fuel pump successfully and disassembled the engine driven fuel pump, noting no peculiarities and an intact diaphragm.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation caused by the pilot's failure to select a tank containing fuel for takeoff. A factor in the accident was the lack of a runway overrun area beyond the departure end of the runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/21/2005
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 800
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Kernville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93238
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 354342N
Event Location Longitude 1182511W
Event Location Airport Kern Valley
Event Location Nearest Airport ID L05
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
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 745 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KBLF
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
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 --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20188
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 21 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-FSDO-Fresno, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3882N
NTSB Number LAX05LA309
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 Thomas
Aircraft Model RV4
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 62
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thomas C Rupe
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kernville
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93238
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code L05
Departure City Kernville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 800
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code L72
Destination City Trona
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 1 2006 5:54PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --