Individually Owned: 151,817
Corporate Owned: 140,587
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Apple Valley, California 92308
Friday, November 15, 1996 14:05 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while he was descending toward the Apple Valley Airport, the engine began to run rough, then it lost power. He was using the left auxiliary fuel cell at the time, and further reported that he immediately switched to the right main tank, which was the fullest. He was unable to obtain a restart, even by positioning the fuel selector to other tanks. As the aircraft neared the ground, the pilot attempted to land on a dirt road, but had insufficient altitude and landed in rough terrain. The aircraft collided with a berm during the landing sequence. Aircraft recovery personnel found about 23 gallons of fuel in the right main tank and 10 gallons in the left auxiliary. Both tanks were leaking fuel at the time. The fuel selector was found positioned to the right main tank. Postcrash inspection of the engine revealed no discrepancies. Inspection of the fuel system revealed that the left auxiliary fuel cell vent lines were plugged by insects and mud at two different internal locations.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel starvation, due to plugged fuel system vent lines, which resulted in loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/15/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1405 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | APPLE VALLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92308 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1352 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 25 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DAG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1927 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 35 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 40 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1734 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 15 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1509 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N961T |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA042 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 35-33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 35-33 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CD-157 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 10 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 3878 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KENNETH E. NISSEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1401 MCCULLOCH #52 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE HAVASU CTY |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86403 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NORMAN E. NISSEN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 19225 PINTO WAY |
| Operator City | APPLE VALLEY |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92308 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HII |
| Departure City | LAKE HAVASU |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | APV |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |