Minden-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Minden, Nevada 89423
Sunday, May 20, 2007 14:35 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the airplane neared its destination at the end of a cross country flight lasting about 2 hours, the pilot transmitted on the destination airport Unicom frequency that he had a fuel problem, and would be making a straight-in landing. There were no further transmissions recorded. Witnesses near the accident site, about 3 miles southeast of the airport, reported seeing the airplane descending with the engine not producing power. The witnesses saw the airplane strike the roof of a recreational vehicle garage, impact the ground in a nose down attitude, nose over, and come to rest inverted. During examination of the airplane, no fuel was found in the left fuel tank; however, the right fuel tank contained fuel. The fuel selector was found positioned to the left tank. The engine was partially disassembled and inspected. The inspection did not reveal any abnormalities that would have prevented normal operation and production of power. Due to the lack of any preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane, and the fuel selector found positioned on an empty tank, it is probable that the pilot failed to select the fuel tank with fuel, and the engine lost power due to fuel starvation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power as a result of fuel starvation due to the pilot's improper positioning of the fuel selector and failure to select a tank containing fuel.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/20/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1435
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Minden
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89423
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390002N
Event Location Longitude 1194507W
Event Location Airport Minden-Tahoe
Event Location Nearest Airport ID MEV
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 3
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 4726
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 225
Weather Observation Facility ID TVL
Elevation of weather observation facility 6264
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 22
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.04
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23589
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date May 20 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 28 2008 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Reno, NV

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N95DR
NTSB Number SEA07LA129
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 SIAI-Marchetti
Aircraft Model FN-333
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0110
Certified Max Gross Weight 3270
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 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1106
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Aircraft Guaranty Title Corp
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Houston
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Egon B. Fritz
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Waiblingen
Operator State --
Operator Country GE
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 VGT
Departure City Las Vegas
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1207
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MEV
Destination City Minden
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 30 2008 12:31PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
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 --