Benton Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Redding, California 96002
Monday, April 30, 2007 10:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane's left wing collided with a tree during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. While on the approach for landing, the engine lost power and the pilot attempted to land the airplane on a residential street. The left wing collided with a tree during the landing ground roll. Recovery personnel noted that no fuel was in the airplane's fuel tanks, and fresh blue staining was evident on the belly area below and behind the fuel strainer drain outlet. The pilot reported that the airplane's fuel tanks had been filled the day preceding the flight, but he could not provide fuel receipts. The airplane's performance specifications state that at 3,000 feet, with 75 percent power and best power mixture, the airplane cruises at 73 miles per hour and achieves a fuel consumption of 4.4 gallons per hour. The fuel capacity is 12 gallons. The straight line distance between the departure and destination airports was 146 nm. The airplane landed 4,500 feet short of the airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/30/2007
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Redding
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96002
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 403429N
Event Location Longitude 1222429W
Event Location Airport BENTON FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID O85
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 719
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 127
Weather Observation Facility ID KRDD
Elevation of weather observation facility 505
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21804
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 30 2007 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 WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N145RL
NTSB Number LAX07CA145
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 Piper
Aircraft Model J3C-65
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 10969
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 101
Airframe Hours 3350
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jeff Iverson
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Novato
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94948
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Jeff Iverson
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Novato
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
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 DVO
Departure City NOVATO
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code O85
Destination City REDDING
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2007 6:18PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 2420
Runway Width 80
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --