Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chino, California 91710
Sunday, July 11, 2010 14:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he prepared a flight plan the night before his departure which included three legs, with a fuel stop planned after the second leg. On the day of the accident, the pilot performed a preflight inspection on the airplane and determined that he had sufficient fuel to make the planned 2-hour trip with the appropriate fuel reserve. He flew to the first planned airport, and then amended his flight plan and flew to a different airport, not originally on his flight plan. He did not preflight or consider how this leg would affect his fuel calculations. After the second stop, he did an abbreviated preflight, which consisted of visually checking the fuel and oil levels. He looked into the fuel tanks, but did not physically measure the amount of fuel. He estimated the amount of fuel on board, but did not recognize that the fuel level was too low to make the flight. He then departed for the planned fuel stop airport. The airplane was over a housing tract a few miles northwest of the destination airport when the fuel supply was exhausted and the engine lost power. The pilot made a forced landing on a golf course, but could not stop the airplane before it collided with ground obstacles.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning which resulted in a loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/11/2010
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Chino
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91710
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 335800N
Event Location Longitude 1173800W
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 5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1419 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KCNO
Elevation of weather observation facility 650
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 11000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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) 28429
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 Jun 15 2011 10:14AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3295T
NTSB Number WPR10LA345
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 CESSNA
Aircraft Model 177
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17700595
Certified Max Gross Weight 2350
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 Mar 20 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1964
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Phil Samuelian
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Pasadena
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91104
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Phil Samuelian
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Pasadena
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 91104
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 L05
Departure City Kernville
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1245
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code AJO
Destination City Corona
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 12 2011 6:15PM
User who most recently changed record coos
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 --