Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Ynez Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Ynez, California 93460
Sunday, May 27, 2012 8:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A few days before the accident, the private pilot requested that the airplane be serviced with equal quantities of fuel in each wing tank. The ramp agent instead filled the left tank close to capacity and did not put any fuel in the right tank. The pilot was not aware of the discrepancy, and during the preflight inspection, he checked the fuel tank levels using the wing-mounted sight gauges. However, he misread the right tank quantity and continued the preflight inspection even though the fuel quantity gauges in the cabin did not match the sight gauges. The sight gauge design allows for the display of fuel quantity only when the tank is filled to between 25 and 35 gallons (about 1/2 to 3/4 full). However, when the tank is filled to 1/4 of its capacity or less, the tail of the gauge needle points to the 32 gallon (3/5 capacity) position. This most likely accounted for the pilot’s misinterpretation of the fuel level.
During the initial climb, with the right fuel tank selected, the engine lost all power. The pilot failed to recognize the fuel starvation condition and performed troubleshooting steps by memory before ultimately switching the fuel tank selector valve to the left tank, which was full. The pilot’s troubleshooting procedures included multiple activations of the auxiliary fuel pump on HI mode, which, according to the airplane manufacturer’s emergency checklist, was not the appropriate action for a fuel starvation condition. The use of the pump resulted in an excessively rich fuel mixture when the left tank was selected and prevented the engine from being restarted. The pilot then switched back to the empty fuel tank and performed a gear-up forced landing into a plowed field.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power during initial climb due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection, his failure to properly diagnose the loss of engine power, and his failure to follow the appropriate emergency procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/27/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 810 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Santa Ynez |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93460 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343554n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1200456w |
| Event Location Airport | Santa Ynez |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IZA |
| 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 | 674 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 755 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KIZA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 674 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KIZA 271455Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM OVC012 10/06 |
| 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) | 31455 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WPR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2013 5:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8234M |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA246 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | B36TC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | EA-520 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3500 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 26 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 2521 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DARRELL W BECKER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA BARBARA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93103 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | DARRELL W BECKER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SANTA BARBARA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93103 |
| 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 | SBA |
| Departure City | Santa Barbara |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 750 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MMH |
| Destination City | Mammoth Lakes |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2013 5:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |