- Date
- July 20, 1985, 12:33 local (19:33 UTC)
- Place
- San Andreas, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7305VBellanca 17-30
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850720032949A
- Case key
- 24777
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt took off on a 2 hr flt with about 6 hrs of fuel on board. On several occasions during the flt, he repositioned the fuel selector handle. He stated that when he made a very shallow turn to the right, near his destination, the eng suddenly lost power. He attempted to restart the eng by switching the fuel selector to various positions, but power was not restored. The plt attempted to glide to the nearest arpt, but had insufficient alt. Subsequently, he landed the acft in a field with the gear retracted. An exam of the acft revealed no preimpact part failure or malfunction that would have prevented normal operation of the eng. Aprx 37 gal of fuel was found in the four fuel tanks. The left main fuel tank was found to be empty, but fuel was found in the other tanks. One tank was virtually full; one was about 1/2 full; the other was about 10% full.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7305V
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30172
- Airframe hours
- 500
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Viking, Ltd.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · February 26, 1985 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- WHP · Pacoima, CA
- Destination
- 022 · Columbia, CA
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 230 total · 89 in this make and model · 230 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N7305V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.