Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Compton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Compton, California 90220
Saturday, April 12, 2008 15:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departing for a planned round-trip flight, the pilot visually ascertained the quantity of fuel in the airplane's main fuel tanks, but relied on the fuel gauges to ascertain the quantity of fuel in the auxiliary fuel tanks. Prior to taking off for the return flight, the pilot did not look in any of the fuel tanks and estimated the airplane contained a total of 30 gallons of fuel that was distributed among the two main and two auxiliary tanks. Approaching the airport, the left engine sputtered and the pilot repositioned both fuel selectors from the main tanks to the auxiliary tanks position. The left engine did not restart. The pilot then attempted to provide fuel to the left engine by positioning its fuel selector into the cross-feed position. Moments later, both engines lost all power. At the time, the airplane was on short final approach for landing. As the airplane continued descending, the pilot again attempted to restore engine power and he switched the right engine's fuel selector to the right auxiliary tank. The right engine's power surged to red line and the airplane began to uncontrollably roll left. The pilot reduced the right engine's throttle to regain directional and lateral control, and the airplane impacted the underlying homes, coming to rest 2,100 feet short of the landing threshold. An examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction with the airplane's fuel control system or engines. Only ounces of fuel were observed in fuel lines, and no evidence of fuel was found in tanks or in the underlying terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of both engines' power during approach due to fuel exhaustion that resulted from the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and failure to verify the quantity of fuel on board the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/12/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Compton |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90220 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335322N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181353W |
| Event Location Airport | Compton |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CPM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 97 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 278 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 66 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| 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) | 29.99 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25161 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 12 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 6 2009 6:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | LAX FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6231Q |
| NTSB Number | LAX08FA101 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 310Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 310Q0517 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 24 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 3875 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Eureka International, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 711 Carson St., Ste. 4 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carson City |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89701 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Charles A. Reece |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Culver City |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90231 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYF |
| Departure City | San Diego |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1506 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Compton |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 6 2009 6:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25L |
| Runway Length | 3322 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |