Beechcraft C23 N3724Z

Summary

On 12 February 2006 at about 22:55 local time, a Beechcraft C23 registered N3724Z was involved in an accident near San Jose, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 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

12 February 2006 at 22:55

Classification

Accident

Location

San Jose, California, United States

Nearest airport

Reid-Hillview of Santa Clara C (RHV)

Coordinates

37.3328, -121.8217

Aircraft

Beechcraft C23

Registration

N3724Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Jose → San Jose

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06LA111

2 people had minor injuries.

fuel starvation due to the pilot's improper fuel system management and failure to select the proper fuel tank. A factor was the rough, uneven terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After losing engine power in the traffic pattern, the airplane touched down hard in an uneven field during a forced landing short of the runway. The pilot had been on a local sightseeing flight. He tried to contact the air traffic control tower, but was unable to do so due to frequency congestion. He crossed over the airport at midfield, and was heading eastbound at 2,000 feet when the engine lost power. He turned back toward the airport to attempt a landing, and informed the tower that he had an engine failure and wanted to make an emergency landing. The tower cleared him to land on runway 31R. He entered for a short final below 1,000 feet and turned to the right toward the end of the runway at 500 feet or less. He overshot the turn to final for 31R, and felt the airplane stall while in a steep turn. He decided that he could not make the runway, and headed to a grass field near the end of the runway. He slowed to 60 knots, touched down hard in the uneven field, and skidded across a road. Airport operations personnel inspected the fuel tanks and found that the right tank was dry and the left tank had several gallons. The pilot informed them that he forgot to switch fuel tanks from the right tank to the left prior to landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.