North American NAVION A N91597

Summary

On 19 September 2005 at about 20:15 local time, a North American NAVION A registered N91597 was involved in an accident near Chowchilla, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 September 2005 at 20:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Chowchilla, California, United States

Coordinates

37.1489, -120.1847

Aircraft

North American NAVION A

Registration

N91597

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Calaveras Cty → Ramona

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05LA303

1 person had minor injuries.

the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with a pole during a forced landing on a road following a loss of engine power. Prior to departure, the pilot filled his main tanks and tip tanks and indicated that his auxiliary fuel tank had been previously filled. Normally, the pilot would fill up his auxiliary fuel tank or the tip tanks, but not both at the same time. The pilot said his habit was to rotate between using the auxiliary tank and the tip tanks about every 3 to 4 months. Because he had been using the auxiliary fuel tank for the last several months, he decided to use the wing tip tanks for this flight. The pilot did not run the engine from the tip tanks prior to departing the airport. About 40 minutes into the flight he switched from the main fuel tank to the right tip tank. Prior to selecting the tip tank, he turned on the auxiliary fuel pump. As had happened in the past when he had not used the wing tip tanks for an extended period, he expected the engine to sputter and then restart. However, on this occasion, after the engine sputtered, it did not restart. The pilot then switched the fuel selector back to the main tank and verified that he was getting fuel pressure, but the engine would not restart. On-scene examination by the Federal Aviation Administration did not reveal any mechanical anomalies. Fuel was found in all four fuel tanks. Follow-up examination of the airplane's fuel system showed that the lines and tanks were free from obstruction with no contamination evident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.