Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Monterey Peninsula Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Monterey, California 93940
Tuesady, November 25, 2008 17:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after an uneventful flight he entered the traffic pattern for the active runway. As he turned from downwind to base leg, the engine lost power. The pilot stated that he realized that he "had forgotten to switch the fuel tanks and had run the right fuel tank dry." He immediately switched to the left fuel tank and noted that he already had the fuel boost pump on in anticipation for landing. Despite his efforts, the engine did not restart and the airplane descended into trees and subsequently impacted the ground. The pilot stated that, "if I had used my landing checklist, I would have not run the right tank dry because I would have turned to the fullest tank for landing." Examination of the airplane revealed that it came to rest in a vertical position within a parking lot. The right wing was partially separated from the fuselage and exhibited structural damage. The horizontal stabilator was also structurally damaged. During removal of the airplane, recovery crews reported that they drained 24 ounces of fuel from the left wing fuel tank and 8 ounces of fuel from the right wing fuel tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate fuel system management and inflight planning that led to a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to use the landing checklist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/25/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Monterey |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93940 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363513N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1215034W |
| Event Location Airport | Monterey Peninsula Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MRY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 280 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1754 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MRY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 257 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24968 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2009 7:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2383R |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA046 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-5749 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 4600 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alexander Henson, Joanna Pfeister |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carmel Valley |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93924 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Alexander Henson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Carmel Valley |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93924 |
| 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 | CXL |
| Departure City | Calexico |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1442 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MRY |
| Destination City | Monterey |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2009 7:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |