Beechcraft B36TC N3144D

Summary

On 27 November 2006 at about 01:00 local time, a Beechcraft B36TC registered N3144D was involved in an accident near Buena Park, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 November 2006 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Buena Park, California, United States

Nearest airport

Fullerton Municipal Airport (FUL)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft B36TC

Registration

N3144D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Redding → Fullerton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX07FA049

2 people were seriously injured.

a fuel starvation induced loss of engine power due to pilot's inadequate fuel system management.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane experienced a loss of engine power and descended into a single family residence 0.3 miles from the destination airport. The pilot estimated a total flight time en route of 2 hours 38 minutes, with the total fuel on board equating to 4 hours 53 minutes. While in traffic pattern, the engine experienced a loss of power and the pilot declared an emergency. A witness stated that he noticed the accident airplane flying low and the propeller appeared as though it was not producing power. Fueling records at the departure airport disclosed that the aircraft was last fueled immediately prior to departure with the addition of 45 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. According to the pilot, the addition of the fuel filled the aircraft tanks to a total of 90 gallons (45 in each tank). The fueler was contacted several days after the accident. He indicated that he did not fill each tank to the maximum capacity, rather he evenly distributed the 45 gallons of fuel to each side. Each wing's total fuel capacity was 54 gallons, of which 3 gallons were unusable. Each wing was equipped with a fuel quantity sight gage that reads within the calibrated area of 25 to 30 gallons. The right wing was impact damaged with numerous perforations. The inboard fuel bladder was drained via the bottom sump and found to have about 1 gallon of fuel. The left wing was separated from the fuselage. Removal of the inspection panels on the left wing revealed that the fuel bladders were intact. There appeared to be only several ounces of fuel within the outboard bladder; no other fluid was found in the left wing. The fuel selector was found in the "OFF" position and had been turned to OFF by a first responder. The engine was examined and test run; no mechanical malfunctions or failures were found with the engine that would have precluded it from operating normally. The non-volatile memory of an engine data management system revealed that the accident flight encompassed a duration of 3.66 hours. The total fuel used during the last flight was 64.3 gallons. Shortly before the accident, the engine's fuel flow dropped from 15.9 to 7.1 gallons per hour. Thereafter, the fuel flow was between .3 and 6.2 gallons per hour. The battery voltage remained fairly constant, consistent with the electrical system operating normally. The pre-crash integrity of the fuel system could not be verified due to the extent of airplane damage incurred during the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.