Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Camarillo Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Camarillo, California 93010
Thursday, July 10, 2008 14:43 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was descending on a 5-mile final approach for the runway when the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. He said that there were no abnormal indications on the engine gauges, and he believed he had exhausted all useable fuel in the two right wing fuel tanks. He immediately switched the fuel selector to the left wing tank. The engine did not regain power, so the pilot verified that the magneto switches were on. According to the pilot, there is no electric starter installed on the engine. The airplane continued to descend, and about 500 feet above the ground, the propeller stopped rotating. The pilot released the banner he was towing, and he made a forced landing in a rough field. The airplane nosed over during the landing rollout, and the left wing's structure was damaged. The pilot reported that the airplane was equipped with three fuel tanks, two in the right wing and one in the left wing. Each tank holds 18 gallons of fuel, for a total of 54 gallons that provides about a 6-hour endurance. During banner tow operations the fuel burn off rate is about 8 gallons per hour. All fuel tanks were filled to capacity prior to the pilot's 1040 takeoff. The airplane had been airborne about 4 hours when the loss of power occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1443 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Camarillo |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93010 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341252N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1190002W |
| Event Location Airport | Camarillo |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CMA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 77 |
| 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 | 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) | 24104 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 10 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Van Nuys, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7471D |
| NTSB Number | LAX08CA224 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18A-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-5806 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Van Wagner Aerial Media |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1600 E. Airport Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hollywood |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33023 |
| 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 | Hollywood |
| Operator State | FL |
| 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) | Banner Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CMA |
| Departure City | Camarillo |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CMA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2008 5:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 6013 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |