Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Off Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arvin, California 93203
Saturday, March 24, 2007 15:05 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was approximately 30 miles away from his destination airport on a cross country flight when the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot selected what appeared to him to be a dirt runway as a forced landing site. As he descended, he realized that the "runway" was actually a raised dirt road. Due to low altitude and airspeed, the pilot continued his approach. The airplane touched down on the road, but upon roll out veered off the left side and down a small embankment. The airplane rolled into a field and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. During interviews and in a written report, the pilot stated his opinion that the loss of engine power was due to fuel exhaustion, which he attributed to a propeller change. The pilot noted that with the new propeller, the engine ran at higher revolutions per minute (RPM), which in turn resulted in "higher [fuel] burn." The pilot reported that he didn't account for the higher fuel flow when he calculated his airplane's fuel consumption. During examination of the accident site, a Sheriff's Department deputy reported that he "did not see or smell any fuel leakage in or around the aircraft." The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power resulting from fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's failure to refuel the aircraft en route. A contributing factor to this accident was rough/uneven terrain at the forced landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Arvin |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93203 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351255N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1184722W |
| Event Location Airport | Off 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 | 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 22427 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 24 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Freson, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N229DH |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA082 |
| 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 | Hackney |
| Aircraft Model | Glasair TD |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 229 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 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 | Raymond B. Sherwood |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Placerville |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95667 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Placerville |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95667 |
| 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 | P14 |
| Departure City | HOLBROOK |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MIT |
| Destination City | SHAFTER |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 2 2007 6:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |