Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Napa County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Napa, California 94558
Thursday, January 14, 2010 14:41 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Almost immediately after takeoff, at 100 feet above ground level (agl), the engine of the single engine airplane began to lose power, surged two times, then lost all power. The pilot landed in an open field off the end of the runway. During the landing the nose wheel sank into the soft ground, collapsed, and the airplane nosed into the ground. The pilot reported that both wing fuel tanks were full and the engine run up was normal. During the post accident airplane examination fuel was identified in both wing tanks, the fuselage header tank, and the main fuel valve was observed rotated to the 2 o’clock position. The valve was a two position valve; "off" when positioned to 9 o’clock, and "on" when positioned to 12 o’clock. Investigators observed that the valve had no positive stops and could be rotated past the 9 o’clock or 12 o’clock positions. The valve was located on the far left bottom side of the instrument panel, about knee level, which was not the standard location for the valve. During the post accident examination of the engine, investigators were able to run the engine up to 2,500 rpm, and noted that if the operator in the left seat moved his left knee to the left, it would push on the fuel valve, rotating it to the 2 o’clock position. With the fuel valve at the 2 o’clock position, fuel flow to the carburetor was reduced to a "trickle," and the engine slowly lost power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the unintentional movement of the fuel selector valve beyond its stops during takeoff initial climb resulting in restricted fuel flow.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/14/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1441 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Napa |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94558 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381247N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221650W |
| Event Location Airport | Napa County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KAPC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 35 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAPC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| 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) | 27480 |
| 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 | Nov 3 2010 10:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2332H |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA111 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ERCOUPE |
| Aircraft Model | 415-D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2957 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39 |
| Airframe Hours | 2800 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BLACKSETH KIM ROBERT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | OAKLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94610-5034 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Joshua Gray |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | American Canyon |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94503 |
| 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 | KAPC |
| Departure City | Napa |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1440 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KCPU |
| Destination City | Calaveras Count |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 21 2010 1:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36R |
| Runway Length | 2510 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |