19990507021719A

(.19) On may 7, 1999, at 2330 hours pacific daylight time, a Cessna T303, N3303S, impacted the water in San Diego bay following a loss of power in both engines during a missed approach to runway 27 at Lindbergh field, San Diego, CA. The airplane was owned and operated by the second pilot, who holds a private pilot certificate without a multiengine class rating. The aircraft sank in the bay and sustained substantial damage. The airline transport pilot, who was at the controls flying from the right seat, and the private pilot, who was in the left seat, were not injured. The personal cross-country flight was being conducted under 14 CFR part 91 of the federal aviation regulations. The airplane had departed from sugar land airport, houston, TX, at 1330 central daylight time on the day of the accident and was destined for San Diego. No flight plan was filed for the flight; however the pilot had requested and received an instrument clearance for the approach into San Diego. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The private pilot was interviewed by telephone and reported to safety board investigators that they departed from houston, and that they were intending to fly to San Diego. Lindbergh field. They originally planned on landing at gila bend, Arizona, to top the aircraft off with fuel. While they were talking on the CTAF frequency, another pilot told his crew that the fueling was closed at gila bend. The right seat pilot decided to land at a nearby private airstrip for fuel and they touched down approx. 1830-1900 local time. They made arrangements to have a pickup truck with a fuel tank in the bed drive to the casa grande airport and purchase 65 gallons of 100 low lead fuel and return to this airstrip. The left seat pilot said they put in approx. 63 gallons of fuel, drained fuel samples, and did not see any sediment or water in the fuel. He said that the right seat pilot was concerned about the length of the runway, which he stated was less than 2,000 feet, so they limited the amount of fuel they purchased. En route to San Diego, the right seat pilot called flight service to find out about weather in the San Diego area, and, after hearing that instrument conditions existed, requested a clearance to Lindbergh field. The left seat pilot stated that air traffic control (ATC) had them fly toward the VOR, then to an unknown intersection, and then proceed directly to San Diego. He said that when they received their IFR clearance, he estimated that they had 1:30 to 1:40 hours of fuel left. He said that approximately 30-40 miles from the airport, ATC told them to increase their speed for spacing and that they were unable to do so. He then said ATC took them out on vectors for traffic, then sequenced them back in for the approach. During the approach on the localizer runway 27, he said they broke out of the clouds at minimums, and were about 600-700 feet above the runway threshold and unable to make a normal landing from that altitude. The right seat pilot asked the control tower for permission to do a left turn and enter downwind for the runway. ATC told the pilot to do a missed approach. During the missed approach an engine failed, followed by the other engine, and the right seat pilot feathered each propeller and set up for a ditching in the bay. The airline transport pilot was admitted for treatment at a local hospital 2 days after the accident and died shortly thereafter. An autopsy was performed by the San Diego county medical examiner's office. The attesting pathologists sta ted that he died from natural causes due to coronary disease, and that there was "no trauma whatsoever" from the airplane crash. (.4)the airplane departed houston, Texas, for a VFR flight to San Diego, California. The pilot in the left seat said that they originally planned to purchase fuel at gila bend, Arizona, but were told that the fueling was closed. The left seat pilot said they elected to land at a private airstrip and made arrangements to have an individual drive to casa grande airport to purchase fuel for them. The left seat pilot said they were worried about adequate runway length, so they elected to only purchase 65 gallons of fuel for the remainder of the flight to San Diego. En route to San Diego, the right seat pilot obtained weather for the destination from fss and was advised of 1,000-foot overcast ceiling. The right seat pilot then requested and received an instrument clearance. The TRACON controller advised the pilot of the accident airplane that he would have to keep speed up due to jet traffic or be given delay vectors for traffic spacing. The pilot told ATC that they were fuel critical and later said they had about 45 minutes to 1 ho ur of fuel. The right seat pilot was cleared for the localizer runway 27 approach. Approximately 18 minutes later, the pilot elected to so a missed approach because he was too high to land and moments later told San Diego radar that he was fuel critical and only had about 5 minutes of fuel left. San Diego radar began to give the pilot vectors to the closet airport and told the pilot not to descend any further. The right seat pilot replied that they were a glider and later told San Diego police that they had run out of fuel. There were no discrepancies noted with either the airframe of the engines during the postaccident aircraft examination. (-23) see attached inspector statement.