El Paso Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

El Paso, Texas 79906
Friday, April 30, 2010 17:18 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed with approximately 5 hours of fuel on board for the planned cross country flight. Approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes into the flight, as the airplane was approaching the destination airport at 5,000 feet mean sea level, the engine suddenly stopped producing power. The pilot was unable to re-start the engine and elected to make a forced landing with the wing flaps and the landing gear fully extended. The airplane touched down about 2.5 miles short of the runway in rugged, desert terrain. During the landing, the gear collapsed and the wings collided with small sand dunes resulting in structural damage to the airplane. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left wing exhibited impact damage, but the fuel tank was intact. There was no evidence of any fuel in the tank and the green shrubs near the wing were not discolored from contact with fuel. The right wing was more extensively damaged and the fuel tank was ruptured. The smell of fuel was noted around the breached tank and it was empty. All of the fuel lines in the engine compartment were intact, secure, and showed no evidence of leaks. No fuel was found in the fuel line located between the firewall and the engine driven fuel pump; a small amount of fuel was in the fuel line from the fuel servo to the fuel distribution manifold. It could not be definitively determined which fuel tank was selected at the time the engine quit producing power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/30/2010
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1718
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City El Paso
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79906
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 314900N
Event Location Longitude 1062100W
Event Location Airport El Paso
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ELP
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 2.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 3959
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 ELP
Elevation of weather observation facility 3953
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 --
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 --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27985
NTSB Notification Source SW ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 27 2011 1:27PM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3692Q
NTSB Number CEN10LA235
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 BEECH
Aircraft Model A36TC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number EA-125
Certified Max Gross Weight 3650
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 29 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1565
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SUNNYBRAE 192 LLC TRUSTEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 397 MARINE DR UNIT 7
Aircraft Owner City ASTORIA
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97103-4327
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name SUNNYBRAE 192 LLC TRUSTEE
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MYF
Departure City Montgomery
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1304
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City El Paso
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 24 2011 3:33PM
User who most recently changed record yeal
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 --