Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brackett Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Dimas, California 91773
Tuesady, April 15, 2008 20:41 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor intended to demonstrate the airplane to the pilot rated passenger. The owner of the flight school that owned the airplane said that the flight was not authorized and that she had no knowledge that the instructor was going to take the airplane. The owner said that the airplane had been down for an annual inspection for 6 weeks and the mechanic had not completed the work. The mechanic said the left main fuel tank was empty when he last worked on the airplane 4 days before the accident. No records were found indicating the airplane was refueled prior to the accident flight. The flight instructor claimed that during his preflight inspection, he checked the fuel by opening each fuel tank and estimated there were 25 gallons in each main tank. The instructor said that the left engine lost all power immediately after liftoff, but he did not abort the takeoff. He was unable to maintain airspeed and altitude and the airplane banked left and descended to ground impact. The passenger reported that the airplane "fishtailed" from right to left during the takeoff roll, and that he yelled at the instructor to abort the takeoff several times; however, the flight instructor continued the takeoff. After lifting off, the flight instructor held the control wheel in the full left aileron position and was trying to make left rudder inputs. The passenger yelled at the flight instructor to add right rudder as the instructor added left rudder trim. As the passenger was readjusting the rudder trim to the right, the airplane hit the ground. During examination of the wreckage, no fuel was noted in the left main tank, and 10 gallons of fuel were drained from the right main tank. The fuel selectors were positioned to the main tanks. No evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies were noted during examination of the left and right engines. The owner's manual for the airplane states that if an engine fails after leaving the ground, but with sufficient landing area ahead, a landing should be effected immediately. The takeoff was on a 4,839-foot-long runway and the airplane likely became airborne in about 1,000 feet, and there was adequate distance left to land the airplane back on the runway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power in the left engine due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff following the power loss.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2041 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Dimas |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91773 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340521N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1174749W |
| Event Location Airport | Brackett Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | POC |
| 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 | 1011 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2047 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | POC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1011 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25119 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WP FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 27 2009 5:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Los Angeles, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4080P |
| NTSB Number | LAX08FA109 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-160 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23-1557 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 9 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Blue Diamond Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1615 McKinley Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | La Verne |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91750 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Frank Derzic |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Pasadena |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | POC |
| Departure City | La Verne |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2040 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | POC |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 27 2009 5:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26L |
| Runway Length | 4839 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |