- Date
- September 2, 1994, 22:00 local (Sep 3, 1994, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Orland, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5449BCessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940902035389A
- Case key
- 28849
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
The pilot's failure to follow checklist procedures to assure that the fuel selector was in the both fuel tanks position. Fuel starvation and the dark night were factors in this accident.
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 was completing a 4-hour flight. The pilot reported that he made a left banking turn to align the airplane with the runway. He had previously positioned the fuel selector to the left tank position and he said he believes the maneuver caused the fuel to unport and the engine to lose power due to fuel starvation. He was unable to restart the engine and made a forced landing on a highway. It was a dark night and the airplane's wing struck a telephone pole.
Factual narrative
On September 2, 1994, at 2200 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182, N5449B, lost engine power and collided with a telephone pole during an approach to landing near Orland, California. The pilot was completing a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, owned by Leonard W. Kunz, Yakima, Washington, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries; the other passenger/owner sustained serious injuries. The flight originated at Yakima Airport, Yakima, Washington, at 1800 hours.
The pilot reported that while on a 5 1/2-mile final approach to runway 33, he made a left banking turn to align the airplane with the runway centerline. He said he had previously positioned the fuel selector valve to the left tank and did not place the fuel selector in the both position. The pilot said that this maneuver caused the fuel to unport and "suck" air that caused the engine to experience fuel starvation.
After the engine lost power, the pilot immediately repositioned the fuel selector valve to the both tanks position, but without success. The pilot was unable to restart the engine.
The airplane's altitude was insufficient to make the airport and the pilot elected to land on a highway. During the landing flare, the airplane's wing struck a telephone pole.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5449B
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 33449
- Airframe hours
- 2,570
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Same As Registered Owner
- Registered owner
- Kunz, Leonard W.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 23, 1993 · 133 hours before
- Departed
- YKM · Yakima, WA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- O38 · Haigh Field, runway 15, 4,500 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,100 total · 700 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.