N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Heber, California 92249
Friday, February 15, 2013 16:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed for what he anticipated would be a 1-hour cross-country flight. The airplane’s two engines were supplied with fuel from a single main tank that he said contained 42 gallons at departure; however, he did not check the fuel quantity during his preflight inspection.. The pilot estimated the airplane burned 20 gallons of fuel per hour. As he neared his destination, both engines simultaneously stopped producing power. He turned on both fuel boost pumps, and both engines restarted. After about 1 minute, they shut down once again. He performed a forced landing to a muddy field. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no fuel in the airplane’s main fuel tank and no indications of fuel leaks. The airplane had just received an annual inspection. Fuel records indicated that 20 gallons were added to the airplane’s main fuel tank 13 days before the annual inspection was signed off. The accident flight was the first flight since the annual inspection, and the airplane’s hour meter reading at the time of the accident indicated it had been flown 1.5 hours since the inspection was completed. The pilot said that he encountered a 30-knot headwind on the flight and that he had mistakenly programmed his GPS for the VORTAC, which was about 7 nautical miles past his destination airport. Regardless, had the pilot performed an adequate preflight inspection of the main fuel tank and adequate preflight calculations, he would have likely determined before departure that there was inadequate fuel to reach his destination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight and fuel planning.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/15/2013
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Heber
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92249
Event Date Year 2013
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324506N
Event Location Longitude 1153107W
Event Location Airport N/A
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 1553 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID IPL
Elevation of weather observation facility -54
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
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 --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 32670
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 Apr 10 2014 5:14PM
User who most recently changed record strj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N716T
NTSB Number WPR13LA125
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 TEMCO
Aircraft Model D-16A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number TTN-84
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 12 2013 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name HAMILTON GAY M
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City TUSTIN
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92780-2560
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name HAMILTON GAY M
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City TUSTIN
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92780-2560
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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 CNO
Departure City Chino
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1500
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code IPL
Destination City Imperial
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 10 2014 5:14PM
User who most recently changed record strj
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 --