Reid-Hillview Of Santa Claraco Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Jose, California 95148
Saturday, September 1, 2007 12:33 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot made a forced landing and impacted trees about 1/4-mile short of the airport following a loss of engine power during cruise flight. About 10 minutes prior to arriving at his intended destination, fuel in the left tank was exhausted. The pilot repositioned the fuel selector to the right fuel tank that he believed contained at least 10 gallons of fuel in an attempt at restarting the engine; however, engine power was not restored.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel supply that resulted in fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/1/2007
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1233
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City San Jose
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95148
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 372000N
Event Location Longitude 1214900W
Event Location Airport Reid-Hillview of Santa ClaraCo
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RHV
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 135
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 None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22405
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 1 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 29 2007 8:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office San Jose, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5479A
NTSB Number LAX07CA261
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T210N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21063462
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard F. Groger
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Richard F. Groger
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City San Francisco
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 PSP
Departure City Palm Springs
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1015
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HWD
Destination City Hayward
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 4 2007 2:13PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31R
Runway Length 3101
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --