Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Visalia Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Visalia, California 93291
Saturday, March 3, 2007 7:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with a berm during a forced landing in an industrial building construction site following a loss of engine power. The pilot stated that during the preflight inspection he did not check the fuel quantity. He stated that a month prior to the accident the airplane had been "topped off," and then flown about an hour from the right fuel tank. The pilot also said that during the 160 nautical mile accident flight he did not recall switching fuel tanks. About 3 miles north of the destination airport the engine sputtered and lost power. He switched tanks and activated the electric fuel boost pump, the engine restarted momentarily, then sputtered and lost power again. The pilot switched tanks three or four more times to no avail. Post accident inspection of the airplane by the FAA revealed that the right fuel tank was empty and the left tank contained about 6 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. The fuel line to the carburetor did not contain any fuel. The fuel selector valve was selected to the right tank position. The electric fuel pump was activated and no fuel pressure indication was observed. The fuel selector handle was moved to the left fuel tank position and a fuel pressure indication was observed in the normal operating range.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight fuel system management, which resulted in fuel starvation and a loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/3/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 745 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Visalia |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93291 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1192300W |
| Event Location Airport | VISALIA MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VIS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 295 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 755 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VIS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 295 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21479 |
| 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 | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6628U |
| NTSB Number | LAX07CA098 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 123 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3664 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ronnie L. Beckemeyer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Benicia |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94510 |
| 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 | CCR |
| Departure City | CONCORD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 645 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VIS |
| Destination City | VISALIA |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 3 2007 2:22PM |
| 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 | -- |