Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redding Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redding, California 96002
Thursday, May 18, 2006 11:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise the airplane lost engine power and the pilot ditched the airplane in a lake. The pilot said that during the preflight, he used a fuel stick to determine the fuel quantity in each fuel tank. He indicated that there was between 53 and 55 gallons of fuel onboard at the time of departure. One hour into the flight, he switched fuel tanks from the left to the right fuel tank, and planned to switch back to the left fuel tank after another hour had passed. Once he arrived in the airport environment he overheard a radio transmission from a departing aircraft, so he diverted towards a nearby dam to allow the other aircraft time to depart the airport environment. While in the vicinity of the dam at 1,200 feet above the ground the engine quit. He immediately switched fuel tanks, turned on the fuel boost pump, and advanced the throttle; however, the engine did not respond. As he approached the dam, he observed power lines surrounding the dam. His intention was to ditch the airplane in the water due to unsuitable terrain in the area for an emergency landing. After the airplane cleared the power lines, he made a descent towards the water. The airplane impacted the water at 60 miles per hour. An engine inspection and teardown were conducted after the aircraft was recovered from the lake with no discrepancies noted that would have precluded normal operation. Eight gallons of fuel was recovered from the left fuel tank, and no fuel was recovered from the right fuel tank. No fuel was found in the fuel injector nozzles, that were found to be clear of debris. The fuel lines were clear and intact. No fuel was found in the engine driven fuel pump.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel starvation due to the pilot's inaccurate fuel consumption calculations and inadequate fuel system management.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/18/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1120 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Redding |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96002 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403053N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221760W |
| Event Location Airport | Redding Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KRDD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 15 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 502 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 502 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 29.85 |
| 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) | 21893 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 18 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3384S |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA175 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21059184 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 2550 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CBBET- Carolyn B. Borges Educational Trust |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hayfork |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96041 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert L. Hicks |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | CLS |
| Departure City | Chehalis |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 835 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | O85 |
| Destination City | Redding |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - turn to base |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 13 2007 11:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |