Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Butte City, California 95920
Monday, May 5, 2008 18:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Seconds after taking off for an aerial agricultural application flight, the airplane lost all engine power while about 15 feet above the ground. The pilot made a forced landing in a field and the airplane impacted a berm during the landing roll, nosed over, and came to rest in water. Recovery personnel reported finding little evidence of fuel in the area surrounding the airplane, and no fuel in the airplane's tanks. The pilot and operator reported that the airplane should have had 30 gallons of fuel on board during its last refueling, which occurred three application flights prior to the accident flight. The operator also reported that they did not keep fueling records of the individual fueling events when flying from remote locations and an exact amount could not be determined. The Federal Aviation Administration coordinator examined the engine and accessories. He reported finding no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power during takeoff due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's failure to verify the fuel quantity prior to flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Butte City |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95920 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392900N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1215400W |
| 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 | 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 | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 10 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25157 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 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 4 2009 4:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Sacramento, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N703Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA137 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN |
| Aircraft Model | G-164 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 269 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 22 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 34 |
| Airframe Hours | 11591 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Chuck Jones Flying Service, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 497 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Biggs |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95917 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Chuck Jones Flying Service, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 497 |
| Operator City | Biggs |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95917 |
| Operator Code | NHGG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Butte City |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1809 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Butte City |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2009 4:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |