Alturas Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alturas, California 96101
Thursday, August 25, 2005 7:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted terrain and a fence during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. According to the pilot, he checked the fuel tanks prior to departing on the flight and noted that the right main fuel tank was full, the left main tank was "partial", both auxiliary tanks were full and the tip tanks were empty. He flew the airplane to the destination airport utilizing the left fuel tank. As the flight neared the destination airport, the pilot switched the fuel tank selector from the left to the right tank. The engine began sputtering and lost power. The pilot turned on the fuel boost pump but the engine power did not improve. During the forced landing at the destination airport, the airplane landed short, bounced in the air and impacted a fence before coming to rest. According to a mechanic who examined the airplane after the accident, the left main fuel tank was empty and the right main fuel tank was almost full.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power for undertermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/25/2005
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 750
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Alturas
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96101
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 412859N
Event Location Longitude 1203355W
Event Location Airport Alturas Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AAT
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 4374
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
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) --
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) 21462
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 25 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 29 2007 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Reno, Nevada

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N337Z
NTSB Number LAX05LA279
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 Beech
Aircraft Model 35-A33
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number CD-228
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
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 Nov 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 240
Airframe Hours 8615
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thomas H. Palmer
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Auburn
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95603
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Robert A. Paananen
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Winneconne
Operator State WI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 54986
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 SIY
Departure City Montague
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 705
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code AAT
Destination City Alturas
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2007 3:32PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 13
Runway Length 4301
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --