Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oakland, California 94605
Saturday, January 3, 2009 14:45 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that during a local personal flight, the engine lost power as a result of fuel exhaustion. During the forced landing, he maneuvered to avoid power lines and subsequently impacted trees. The pilot related that he thought he had enough fuel for a short local flight. Post accident, the pilot stated that he did not realize he had flown the airplane for more than 4 hours since it had been refueled. The airplane's fuel endurance is about 4 hours.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/3/2009
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1445
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Oakland
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94605
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 374732N
Event Location Longitude 1220745W
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1353 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID OAK
Elevation of weather observation facility 9
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
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) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KOAK 032153Z 28008KT 10SM FEW015 BKN250 11/M
Event Highest Injury Minor
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 --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26253
NTSB Notification Source FAA WP 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 Dec 10 2009 11:05AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N226PF
NTSB Number WPR09LA071
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 PZL
Aircraft Model PZL-104 35A
Aircraft Series Identifier Wilga
Aircraft Serial Number 15800567
Certified Max Gross Weight 2868
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 12 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name THYS THIERRY N
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City OAKLAND
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94605-5811
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name THYS THIERRY N
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City OAKLAND
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 94605-5811
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 OAK
Departure City Oakland
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1435
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code OAK
Destination City Oakland
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 29 2009 5:22PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --