Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ludlow, California 92338
Tuesady, June 12, 2007 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he did not visually inspect the fuel level in the tanks of the twin-engine airplane before departure. About 15 minutes into the flight, he noticed that the fuel gages were "erratic." About 5 minutes later, the left engine lost power and then regained power with no action by the pilot. Shortly thereafter, the right engine lost power, and the pilot "went to aux pumps" and attempted a restart with no success. The left engine then lost power for the second time, and the pilot "went to aux pumps" and attempted a restart with no success. The pilot made a forced landing in the desert, and during the landing roll, the airplane struck rocks. Examination of the airplane revealed that the right main tank was intact and contained no fuel, and the left main tank was punctured and contained a trace of fuel. The right and left auxiliary tanks contained 27 and 21 gallons of fuel, respectively. Both the left and right fuel selectors were positioned to the right main tank, and both auxiliary fuel pump switches were in the low position. Review of the Pilot's Operating Handbook for the Cessna 340A indicated that in order to utilize the fuel in the auxiliary tanks, the left and right fuel selectors must be positioned to the left and right auxiliary tanks, respectively, and the auxiliary fuel pump switches should be placed in the low position. When questioned about the amount of fuel on board the airplane at departure, the pilot stated that he believed fuel must have been stolen from the airplane while it was parked on the ramp for three days prior to the accident. A written statement was obtained from the line service technician who refueled the airplane, which confirmed that he topped off the airplane with 74.6 gallons of 100LL three days before the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power from both engines due to fuel starvation resulting from the pilot's improper fuel tank selector position. Contributing factors were the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/12/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ludlow |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92338 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344607N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1162128W |
| Event Location 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 | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 42 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 22313 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 12 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Riverside FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N340WS |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA156 |
| 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 | 340A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 340A1813 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1498 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Samuel Salazar |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Jamul |
| 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 | IFP |
| Departure City | Bullhead City |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ONT |
| Destination City | Ontario |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 17 2007 12:50PM |
| 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 | -- |