Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Blue Diamond, Nevada 89004
Friday, October 8, 2010 11:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that, during a cross-country flight, she flew the airplane about 1.5 hours with the right fuel tank selected. When the engine lost power, she stated that she switched the fuel selector to the left and auxiliary fuel tank positions during her attempts to restart the engine, but the engine would not restart. The pilot subsequently made a forced landing on a highway, and the airplane struck a dirt embankment during the landing roll. The airplane veered to the right, and the landing gear collapsed. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. None of the fuel tanks were damaged. The right fuel tank was empty and the left tank was almost completely full (it could not be determined whether there was fuel in the auxiliary tank). After the accident, the fuel selector was found selected to the right tank position. Examination of the fuel selector confirmed that the selector switch operated normally; however, the “fuel selector not engaged” light was not functioning. The pilot should have switched tanks earlier in the flight and did not properly manage the airplane’s fuel consumption. Although the fuel selector was found in the right tank position, it could not be determined whether the pilot placed the selector in that position or if the fuel selector was not engaged when she moved it to the left and auxiliary fuel positions. Under either circumstance, the engine was starved of fuel, which resulted in a loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/8/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1145 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Blue Diamond |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89004 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360310N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1152432W |
| 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 | 1156 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29998 |
| 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 19 2012 6:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8402A |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA004 |
| 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 | A35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-1814 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMISON JOHN W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89134-7538 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | JAMISON Catherine I |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LAS VEGAS |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89134-7538 |
| 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 | PSP |
| Departure City | Palm Springs |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | North Las Vegas |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 19 2012 6:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |