Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Madera, California 93637
Thursday, August 22, 2013 12:27 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 22, 2013, about 1227 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-38 Tomahawk, N2578L, was substantially damaged during a forced off-airport landing near Madera, California, due to a complete loss of engine power. The certificated flight instructor (CFI) and the private pilot under instruction were not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by Mazzei Flying Service of Fresno, California, and the instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan was filed, but not activated, for the flight.
According to the CFI, the private pilot was in the "pre-commercial" phase of his flight training, and the cross-country flight was planned to originate and terminate at Fresno Yosemite International airport (FAT) Fresno, with an intermediate stop at Napa County airport (APC) Napa, California, and a touch-and-go at Livermore Municipal airport (LVK) Livermore, California, on the APC to FAT leg. While the flight was en route to APC, the weather conditions at APC deteriorated below visual flight rules minima, and the pilot decided to divert to Buchanan Field airport (CCR) Concord, California. The landing at CCR was uneventful, and the pilot re-planned the return flight from CCR to FAT. Although fuel was available at CCR, no fuel was taken on at that airport.
The departure and initial phase of the leg from CCR to FAT were uneventful. It was not clear whether the originally-planned touch-and-go was conducted at LVK. When the airplane was about 25 miles from FAT and in the planned descent, the engine ceased developing power. The airplane was landed in a field shortly thereafter. Preliminary examination by an FAA inspector revealed that neither fuel tank was compromised, and that both were essentially devoid of fuel. No other pre-impact abnormalities were reported by the inspector.
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. He reported that he had a total flight experience of 86 hours, all of which was in the accident airplane make and model. He reported that he had 8 hours as pilot-in-command. The CFI reported a total flight experience of 1,176 hours, including 915 hours in the accident airplane make and model. He reported that he had 117 hours as a flight instructor, of which 100 were in the accident airplane make and model.
FAA information indicated that the airplane was manufactured in 1979, and was equipped with a Lycoming O-235 series engine.
The 1253 automated weather observation at Madera Municipal airport (MAE), Madera, located about 5 miles northwest of the accident site, included wind from 300 degrees at 4 knots; visibility 10 miles, clear skies; temperature 31 degrees C; dew point 11 degrees C; and an altimeter setting of 29.87 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1227 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Madera |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93637 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365535N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1200120W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MAE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 255 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Oct 21 2013 1:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2578L |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA383 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-38 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38-79A0768 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1870 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 6 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39 |
| Airframe Hours | 12413 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Golden Eagle Enterprises |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fresno |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93726 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Golden Eagle Enterprises |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fresno |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 93726 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CCR |
| Departure City | Concord |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FAT |
| Destination City | Fresno |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 18 2013 3:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | huhm |
| 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 | -- |