Cessna 182J N182DD

Summary

On 3 December 2000 at about 23:26 local time, a Cessna 182J registered N182DD, operated by Skydive In Paradise, was involved in an accident near Paradise, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 December 2000 at 23:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Paradise, California, United States

Nearest airport

Paradise Skypark (Q88)

Coordinates

39.7401, -121.6100

Aircraft

Cessna 182J

Registration

N182DD

Category

Airplane

Operator

Skydive In Paradise

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Paradise → Paradise

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

NTSB number

LAX01LA050

1 person was seriously injured.

Fuel exhaustion during a descent due to an inadequate fuel supply. Contributing factors were the pilot's improper preflight planning, his misjudged altitude while performing the emergency landing, and his lack of certificate qualification and recent flight experience/currency.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After discharging three parachutists into a drop zone from about 12,000 feet mean sea level, the pilot attempted to return to the departure airport. The engine began surging as the airplane descended through 8,000 feet. The pilot continued the descent and entered the departure airport's traffic pattern. He misjudged his distance from the runway, and when all engine power was lost turning onto the final approach leg he was unable to glide to the runway. The airplane impacted terrain about 250 feet short of the landing threshold whereupon it nosed over. Regarding the pilot's qualifications, he was 5 months overdue in his performance of a biennial flight review, and he had not flown during the previous 90 days. The pilot had alleged to the firm which used his piloting services that he possessed a commercial pilot certificate and had at least 4,000 hours of flight time. On a May 2000 application for an FAA medical certificate, the pilot indicated that he held a commercial pilot certificate and had 8,100 hours of total flight time. According to the FAA, no record exists of the pilot holding any certificate in the United States other than that of private pilot. The pilot subsequently reported to the Safety Board that he had about 1,905 hours of flight time. A reconstruction of the fuel load carried during the accident flight in concert with the fuel burn off rates revealed that, at the time of the crash, the approximate quantity of fuel on board was 4.4 gallons. According to the Cessna Aircraft Company, the unusable fuel for each tank is 2.5 gallons, or a total of 5 gallons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.