Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Napa County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Napa, California 94558
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 8:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane lost engine power and nosed over during a forced landing. The pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane and checked the fuel quantity in each wing tank using a fuel measuring stick. He reported that there was no fuel in the left fuel tank, and 5.5 gallons of usable fuel in the right fuel tank. The pilot stated that he had more than enough fuel for the expected 19-minute flight. He performed an engine run-up and executed a normal takeoff. After clearing the mountains west of the departure airport, he radioed the air traffic control tower at the destination airport and requested a special visual flight rules (SVFR) clearance for runway 18. The controller told the pilot to remain outside the class delta airspace and to expect a 10-minute delay for landing. The pilot remained outside the airspace by maneuvering in right circles over a landmark. The pilot said that at this point, the fuel in the right tank lost contact with the fuel pickup port and the engine lost power. The pilot could not make it to the airport from his location and chose to land in a field approximately 5 miles north of the airport. The pilot successfully landed in the field; however, when the nose wheel touched down it dug into the soil and the airplane nosed over. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane on scene and reported that he found no fuel in the left fuel tank and no more than 6 gallons of fuel in the right fuel tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. The fuel starvation was the result of the pilot's inadequate preflight preparation (failure to refuel the airplane before taking off) and his inadequate in-flight decision (to make right turns while holding) that directly led to an unporting of the right fuel tank.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 845 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Napa |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94558 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381247N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221650W |
| Event Location Airport | Napa County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KAPC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 35 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 854 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 178 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 43 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| 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) | 20641 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2006 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration Sacramento FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N60816 |
| NTSB Number | LAX06CA245 |
| 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 | 150J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15070596 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46 |
| Airframe Hours | 7397 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dennis Patrick Everett |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Vacaville |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95688 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | KVCB |
| Departure City | Vacaville |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KAPC |
| Destination City | Napa |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2006 3:22PM |
| 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 | -- |