Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Castle Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atwater, California 95301
Saturday, January 26, 2013 18:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On January 26, 2013, about 1810 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 152, N68757, experienced a loss of engine power while on approach for landing on runway 31 at Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California. The pilot made a forced landing about 3 miles west of the airport in an open field; during the landing rollout, the airplane struck a culvert and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Sierra Academy of Aeronautics operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the tail section and wings. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local area flight, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight departed from MER about 1630.
According to the student’s written statement, he performed a weight and balance calculation and a preflight of the airplane, which included an addition of 4 quarts of oil. He also reported checking the fuel and observing that each fuel tank was 1/2 full. He flew for about 20 minutes, and then became lost. The pilot contacted NorCal approach (Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control) for assistance back to MER. He contacted MER tower, and then reported that the engine stopped. The pilot advised tower personnel that the engine had failed and he did not have the airport insight. Tower personnel, provide him with a heading to the airport, and he located the airport. The pilot reported that he pitched for best glide speed, and realized that the airplane was too low to make it to the runway, so he decided to make a forced landing in an open field.
The flight school was given permission to recover the airplane to their facility. An interview with the chief pilot revealed that upon his arrival at the accident site, he noted no smell of fuel present and that the fuel tanks had not been compromised. Once the airplane was righted, he was able to drain a total of 1 gallon of fuel; ½ gallon from each wing's fuel tank.
According to the 1978 Cessna pilot’s operating handbook, the maximum of unusable fuel is 1.5 gallons.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/26/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Atwater |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95301 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 372230N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1203404W |
| Event Location Airport | Castle Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MER |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 191 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1810 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MER |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 191 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | Feb 4 2013 2:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N68757 |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA106 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15282360 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KS AVIATION INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2305 JETLIFT DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATWATER |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95301-5118 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Sierra Academy of Aeronautics |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2305 12th Street |
| Operator City | Atwater |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95301 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MER |
| Departure City | Atwater |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MER |
| Destination City | Atwater |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 4 2013 2:33PM |
| 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 | -- |