Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ridgecrest, California 93555
Thursday, August 5, 2010 14:25 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he departed for the destination airport with 88 gallons of usable fuel onboard the airplane. The airplane was equipped with two main and two auxiliary fuel tanks. Only one tank at a time could be selected to provide fuel to the engine. According to the manufacturer's Pilot Operating Handbook (POH), for the flight conditions, the airplane had an endurance of about 6.7 hours, and a fuel consumption rate of about 13 gallons per hour. Contrary to the POH procedures, which specified that fuel in the auxiliary tanks should be utilized early in the flight, the pilot reported that he delayed the use of the fuel in the auxiliary tanks until about 4 hours after departure. Up to this point, he had been switching between the left and right main tanks. The pilot eventually switched to the left and then the right auxiliary tanks, but due to a suspected malfunctioning fuel quantity gauge, he switched the selector back to the right main tank. While the pilot was trying to fix the fuel quantity gauge, the engine started to miss and cough and eventually lost power. The airplane entered a descent as the pilot made several unsuccessful attempts to start the engine. The pilot conducted a forced landing on desert terrain with the landing gear retracted, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the main fuel tanks contained minimal fuel, while the auxiliary fuel tanks contained sufficient fuel for continued flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation, as a result of the pilot's improper fuel management during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/5/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1425 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ridgecrest |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93555 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351441N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1172158W |
| 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 | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NID |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2283 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 40 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29284 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2011 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9365P |
| NTSB Number | WPR10FA385 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-260C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-4865 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | Jun 9 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 4473 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Billy Gene Langhofer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Napa |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94558 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Billy Gene Langhofer |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Napa |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 94558 |
| 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 | DVO |
| Departure City | Novato |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EED |
| Destination City | Needles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2011 4:54PM |
| 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 | -- |