Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Napa County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Napa, California 94558
Sunday, August 28, 2011 12:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While on final approach to the destination airport, about 1.5 miles from the approach end of the runway, the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot advanced the throttle, checked that the mixture was rich, moved the fuel selector from the left tank to the right tank, and activated the fuel boost pump. The engine did not regain its power, and the pilot executed a gear up landing on a nearby highway. During the landing, the airplane hit a vehicle and the left wing impacted a metal pole and the left fuel tank was breached. First responders reported that there was no indication of fuel in the left tank or leaking from the airplane, and the right tank was about 1/4 full. The propeller blade tips were curled; two blade tips curled forward, and one blade tip curled aft, consistent with a propeller that was under power at the time of contact with the hard, flat roadway. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the loss of engine power was the result of fuel starvation, and the pilot’s action of switching to the right fuel tank resulted in the engine regaining power at the same instant that the airplane landed with its gear up on the highway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s mismanagement of the fuel supply, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Napa |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94558 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381247N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221650W |
| Event Location Airport | Napa County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KAPT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 35 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAPC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 35 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 3 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30786 |
| 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 | Jan 17 2013 8:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6052W |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA410 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-1497 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3594 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| 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 | Aug 22 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 3986 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCCOY JOSEPH W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NAPA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94558-2904 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MCCOY JOSEPH W |
| 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 | 94558-2904 |
| 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 | KTVL |
| Departure City | South Lake Taho |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KAPT |
| Destination City | Napa |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2012 3:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |