- Date
- May 28, 1991, 19:55 local (May 29, 1991, 02:55 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Elsinore, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9903ZBeech C-45H
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 27, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910528017639A
- Case key
- 27219
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Fuel starvation due to an improper modification of the fuel system and the pilot's failure to ensure that the aircraft was airworthy prior to flight.
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 pilot said that he was asked by one of the owners to ferry the aircraft. When he arrived to get it he found that the right engine had been shut down during the previous flight. He said that he found the right fuel tank empty and about 20 gallons of fuel in the left tank. The pilot said he loaded 50 gallons of fuel in each tank, after determining that the flight would require only 50 gallons. While descending into Lake Elsinore one engine quit followed quickly by the second one and the pilot landed in a field. FAA inspectors found the right fuel tank contained no fuel and the left tank contained about 50 gallons. No other mechanical malfunctions or failures were identified during the investigation. One owner of the aircraft who was repossessing it from a partner said that after the accident he was informed that due to a pump failure the other owner had 'somehow rigged the aircraft so that both engines would be supplied by the right fuel tank.' The owner said that both he and the pilot were unaware of this modification.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9903Z
- Reported as
- Beech C-45H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AF-853
- Engine
- P&W R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Steve Malmborg
- Registered owner
- Steve Malmborg
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- 6CA7 · Arvin, 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.