Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cloverdale Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cloverdale, California 95425
Friday, April 27, 2012 10:32 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during the initial climb, about 2,000 feet above the ground, he switched to the auxiliary fuel tank and the engine lost power. He applied full throttle and mixture, as well as established a glideslope to return to the airport. The airplane descended faster than the pilot expected and impacted terrain short of the runway. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The right, left, and auxiliary fuel tanks were all about a quarter full. The airplane flight manual states that the fuel selector valve should be on the main tank containing the most fuel during takeoff and landing. The auxiliary tank should only be used in level flight. During a climb, with the auxiliary fuel tank about one-quarter full, it is likely that fuel within the tank was insufficient to exit the tank through the fuel feed and therefore starved the engine of fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power during climb due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1032 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cloverdale |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95425 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384620N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225919W |
| Event Location Airport | Cloverdale Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | O60 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 277 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 152 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 128 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KSTS 271753Z 33007KT 10SM CLR 17/04 A3023 RMK AO2 |
| 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) | 31081 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 5 2013 5:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N80SV |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA185 |
| 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 | BELLANCA |
| Aircraft Model | 17-30A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 80-30971 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | Jan 12 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 2575 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WIMMER CURT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Healdsburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95448 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | WIMMER CURT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Healdsburg |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95448 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | O60 |
| Departure City | Cloverdale |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAO |
| Destination City | Palo Alto |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 5 2013 5:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3147 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |