LAX95FA103

The day prior to the accident, the pilot landed the aircraft on a highway due to a low fuel state. The morning of the accident, he bought 10 gallons of fuel and was going to fly the aircraft to a nearby airport. According to highway patrol officers on the site, when the pilot took off from the highway, the prevailing visibility of less than 1,500 feet. The pilot circled the accident area two times before he crashed about 0.3 mile west of the departure area. Ground witnesses reported the engine sound abruptly cut-out for about two seconds and then went to a high- power engine sound. The airplane crashed about 100 feet north of some telephone wires. The postaccident wreckage examination disclosed evidence of high power at impact and no evidence of any preexisting malfunctions or failures.

History of flight

On February 11, 1995, at 1255 hours Pacific standard time, a Canadian registered Piper PA-28-180, CFCNW, crashed in an open field next to State Highway 108, shortly after departing from State Highway 108 and Green Springs Road, about 6 miles southwest of Jamestown, California. The pilot was beginning a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight to Columbia Airport, Columbia, California. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, was destroyed. The certificated private pilot (Canadian), the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Air Traffic Division, Western-Pacific Region, quality assurance specialist told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that the pilot contacted the Yuma Approach Control on February 10, 1995, at 0959 hours while flying at 10,500 feet mean sea level. The pilot requested and received VFR radar services and filed a VFR flight plan to Redding, California. The pilot canceled the VFR flight plan with Rancho Murietta (California) Flight Service Station at 1541 hours.

A Yuma Approach Control supervisor said that the airplane did not depart Yuma International Airport. Safety Board investigators were unable to determine where the flight to Redding, California, originated.

One witness told Safety Board investigators that she observed the accident airplane land on State Highway 108 on February 10, 1995.

She said that she was driving east on State Highway 108 when she observed the accident airplane flying very low over the westbound lanes. The airplane then turned and landed on the eastbound lanes in front of her. She called 911 and reported the incident.

After landing, the pilot taxied the airplane off the highway and she stopped to help him.

The pilot called the flight service station from her cellular telephone and canceled his flight plan. The pilot told her that he was embarrassed because the airplane was nearly out of fuel. She offered the pilot a ride to the Jamestown, California Highway Patrol office. While driving toward Jamestown, she called the CHP and the dispatcher told her to return the pilot to the airplane. While returning to the airplane, the pilot said he was worried that he would get in trouble for running low on fuel. A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer told Safety Board investigators in a telephone interview conducted on February 13, 1995, that he initially contacted the pilot on February 10, 1995, at 1530 hours. The pilot had executed a precautionary landing on State Highway 108. The pilot told the responding CHP officers that he was on a flight from Yuma, Arizona, to Redding, California, when he encountered fog near Stockton, California. The pilot diverted to Columbia Airport. The pilot again encountered fog and elected to land on State Highway 108 because the airplane was low on fuel. The pilot taxied the airplane off the highway onto a privately owned home on Green Springs Road. The CHP officer admonished the pilot not to takeoff until he contacted the CHP.

On February 11, 1995, at 1155 hours, the pilot called the CHP and told the dispatcher that he was planning to depart. The CHP officer and two other CHP officers met the pilot and discussed the pilot's intended departure at 1230 hours. The pilot told the CHP officer that he had 12 gallons of fuel in the airplane. The CHP officer discussed the prevailing visibility and the pilot said it was okay, as the prevailing fog was a localized condition. The pilot intended to fly to Columbia Airport and he was first going to circle the area. The CHP officer said the prevailing visibility was about 1,500 feet.

The CHP officer said the pilot took off in a northwesterly direction from the front of the home at 1244 hours. The airplane climbed moderately and then disappeared into the fog. The engine sounded " . . . strong . . . ." The CHP officer left the area and proceeded toward Sonora, California. The CHP dispatcher notified the officer that an airplane crashed between 8 and 10 minutes after he departed Green Springs Road.

A person fishing on the lake about 150 yards northwest of the accident site told CHP officers that he heard the airplane circling overhead. He said the airplane engine sounded as if the airplane was flying at a slow airspeed and that it flew toward the south and then returned.

The engine sound " . . . cut-out for about 2 seconds . . . ." The engine restarted and sounded normal between 2 and 3 seconds. The engine then " . . . revved up for 2 to 3 seconds and then he heard it (the airplane) crash . . . ."

The witness also said that he never saw the airplane because of the localized foggy conditions.

The owner of Bald Eagle Aviation, Columbia Airport, Columbia, California, said in a telephone interview conducted on February 16, 1995, that the pilot purchased 10 gallons of aviation fuel on February 11, 1995, at 1000 hours. The fuel was put into two 5-gallon plastic containers.

Personnel information

The pilot held a Canadian private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. He also held a third-class medical certificate; the medical certificate contained a "must have glasses available limitation endorsement." The pilot's certificate was valid until July 1, 1995, according to Canadian Air Regulations.

Investigators did not recover the pilot's personal flight log. The Canadian Pilot's Licensing Department records show that as of August 4, 1994, the pilot accrued 4,000 flight hours. The Aircraft Journey Log (see Aircraft Information section) shows that between August 4, 1994, and February 4, 1995, (the last entry) the pilot logged 40.9 hours; between December 30, 1994, and February 4, 1995, the pilot logged 17.5 hours.

Aircraft information

The airplanes Aircraft Journey logbook was recovered from the wreckage. This record is required by Canadian air regulations to be kept in the airplane. It is not the maintenance logbook, but maintenance entries are contained therein. The total Aircraft Journey logbook hours do not coincide with the airplanes tachometer hourmeter or the hobbsmeter reading. The last recorded entry was on February 4, 1995; the total flight time since manufacture column showed 1,669.0 hours.

The owner of Battleford Air Spray, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, told investigators in a telephone interview conducted on February 17, 1995, that he maintained the airplane. He said that he accomplished the last annual inspection on the accident airplane on June 16, 1994, as noted in the Aircraft Journey Log and that he did not do any other maintenance since the annual inspection. The airplane accrued 1,612.2 hours at the time of the inspection.

He said under Canadian Air Regulations the actual maintenance records are not to be kept in the airplane. The Aircraft Journey Log is kept in the airplane and some maintenance entries are made in the log. He also said that neither the airplanes tachometer hourmeter nor the hobbsmeter hours are used to calculate the airplanes and/or engines total time. This time is taken from the Aircraft Journey Log.

At the time of the accident, the airplane tachometer hourmeter showed 1,945.32 hours; the hobbsmeter showed 1,580.5 hours.

Meteorological information

Jamestown, California, does not have an official weather observation facility. The closest weather observation facility is at Columbia Airport, Columbia, California. Columbia Airport is 8 miles north of the accident site and is serviced by an automated weather observation station (AWOS); the AWOS observation is only retained for 36 hours.

A Columbia Airport senior technician called the Safety Board on February 17, 1995. He said that at the time of the accident the ceiling was about 900 feet broken clouds, temperature - 60 degree's F, and the surface winds were from the southwest