Stellar Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chandler, Arizona 85226
Friday, June 1, 2007 16:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on downwind the airplane experienced a loss of engine power and collided with houses and other obstacles during a forced landing on a residential neighborhood street. The pilot stated that he took off to troubleshoot a landing gear anomaly. He departed the airport area to the south. He cycled the landing gear and upon getting questionable indications in the cockpit of gear position he requested another aircraft confirm his landing gear configuration. Once he got the confirmation that all three wheels were down he proceeded back to the airport. About 2 miles away and approximately 1,800 feet agl the right engine began to lose power. He troubleshot the engine by attempting a restart, cycling the fuel pump off then on, and selected the right auxiliary fuel tank. The right engine did regain some power. He had lost some altitude during the process of troubleshooting the engine. He raised the landing gear to reduce drag, and entered right hand traffic for runway 17. At this point the left engine lost power, the airplane turned left, and he entered a descent to help maintain airspeed. He put the left propeller in feather, and switched to a new fuel tank, but the engine did not regain power. He did not have any altitude to exchange for airspeed and steered the airplane towards a clear residential street. The airplane impacted the roofs of at least two houses before colliding with the street. The pilot egressed through the rear of the airplane. An FAA inspector that examined the airplane wreckage stated that there was very little evidence of fuel onboard the airplane. The pilot stated that the left engine had failed due to fuel starvation and that he had fuel onboard but it was not in the right places.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

fuel starvation due to the pilot's failure to adequately manage and monitor his fuel supply.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/1/2007
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Chandler
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85226
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331793N
Event Location Longitude 1115493W
Event Location Airport Stellar Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KP19
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1547 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KCHD
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 38
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.69
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 Docket Number (internal use) 21872
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 Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8688K
NTSB Number LAX07CA182
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 340A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 340A0619
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 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 4790.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Steve Posluszny
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Chandler
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85226
Operator is an individual? No
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code KP19
Departure City Chandler
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KP19
Destination City Chandler
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 5 2007 6:17PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 3913
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --