Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Porterville, California 93257
Friday, January 18, 2013 14:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that during a 4.5-hour cross-country flight, and, after making two full stop landings without refueling, the engine lost power while he was returning to his departure airport. A forced landing was made to a service road where, during the landing roll, the left wing tip struck a wood post, which caused the airplane to rotate 90 degrees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. A postaccident examination revealed no usable fuel in the fuel tanks. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and said it was likely that he had exhausted his fuel supply.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/18/2013
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Porterville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93257
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 360128N
Event Location Longitude 1190328W
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 1515 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID PTV
Elevation of weather observation facility 443
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
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) 30.16
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KPTV 182315Z 34006KT 9SM CLR 18/04 A3016 RMK
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) 31072
NTSB Notification Source Federal Aviation Administratio
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 7 2013 5:13PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N50690
NTSB Number WPR13CA103
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 150J
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15069486
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 48
Airframe Hours 6138
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name DELLICKER HARRY R TRUSTEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City PORTERVILLE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93257
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Del-Air
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Porterville
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 93257
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MAE
Departure City Madera
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Porterville
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 7 2013 5:14PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --