Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Barbara Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Barbara, California 93117
Sunday, August 23, 2009 10:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he departed with an estimated 32 gallons total (28 usable) of fuel on board for the 148-nautical-mile flight. He thought that the flight would take about 1.1 hours, which would leave a 1-hour fuel reserve. The left main tank was selected for takeoff, climb, and initial cruise. About 57 miles from his destination, the pilot switched from the left main fuel tank to the right main fuel tank, and he noted that the fuel flow gauge indicated a fuel burn of 12.5 gallons per hour. He said that when he was on approach and about 5 miles from his destination, the engine began to run rough and lose power. He turned the fuel boost pump on and switched back to the left main tank; however, he was unable to restore full engine power. He declared an emergency and prepared to make an off-airport forced landing. Because of terrain and other considerations, he landed on the southbound lanes of a freeway. Immediately after touchdown, an automobile struck the left wing, and two other automobiles struck the airplane before it came to a rest on the freeway. During the recovery, there was no evidence of fuel in the airplane, including the 4 gallons of unusable fuel that should have been in the tank. The pilot opined that the fuel vented from the airplane due to a mechanical problem. During a postaccident engine examination, there was no visible fuel found in any of the engine fuel system components, and there was no fuel staining observed at any of the engine compartment fuel system line fittings or components. At the conclusion of the examination, no anomalies were found that would have precluded normal operation. Examination of the airframe revealed that the left wing main fuel tank filler cap was loose in the filler hole when latched; it could easily be rotated. There were no stains on the top or bottoms of the wings in the fuel vent areas or around any of the main or auxiliary filler caps. There were dark blue stains on the inside of the fuel drain access door, but not on the outside.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of power during approach due to fuel exhaustion for undetermined reasons
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1035 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Santa Barbara |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93117 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1194748W |
| Event Location Airport | Santa Barbara |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SBA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSBA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 14 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28080 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP 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 | May 13 2011 11:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | rows |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8775P |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA412 |
| 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-24-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-4226 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 2 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 7680 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kris S Michel |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Eureka |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95503 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kris S Michel |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Eureka |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95503 |
| 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 | F70 |
| Departure City | Murietta |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SBA |
| Destination City | Santa Barbara |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 15 2011 5:51PM |
| 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 | -- |