Beechcraft V35B N8711V

Summary

On 21 April 1996 at about 20:11 local time, a Beechcraft V35B registered N8711V was involved in an accident near Santa Barbara, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 April 1996 at 20:11

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Barbara, California, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Barbara Municipal (SBA)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft V35B

Registration

N8711V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Salinas → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX96LA175

2 people were seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to select a fuel tank containing an adequate quantity of fuel prior to landing, which resulted in fuel starvation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

At the end of the cross-country flight, the pilot made a reduced power descent over a nearby 4,000-foot mountain ridge in order to land at the sea level airport. The pilot continued his descent in the airport traffic pattern and, while on final approach for landing, attempted to add engine power to adjust his approach flight path. When the throttle was advanced there was no response from the engine and the aircraft subsequently landed short of the runway. When examined after the accident, the engine, which was exposed to a postcrash fire and fire fighting activities, contained no fuel, and only a small quantity of a foul smelling blackish/brown liquid. The pilot reported that the right-hand tank had been selected and that he had flown approximately 2.5 hours while drawing fuel from that tank. The engine was subsequently run satisfactorily in a test cell.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.