- Date
- April 18, 1998, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- North Las Vegas, NV
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9703RBeech M35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 3, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980418007249A
- Case key
- 30068
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
fuel starvation due to the pilot's improper fuel management and his failure to select the fullest tank for landing.
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
While on approach to the destination airport from a cross-country flight, the tower instructed the pilot to turn left to a downwind for landing. After completing the left turn the engine quit about pattern altitude. The pilot reported that he switched tanks several times in an unsuccessful attempt to get a restart. The fuel selector was found in the auxiliary fuel tank position. Recovery personnel removed about 18 gallons of fuel from the right fuel tanks, 2 gallons from the auxiliary and 16 from the right main tank. The left fuel tanks were ruptured. The estimated flight time from departure to North Las Vegas is 1.5 hours, and according to the engine manufacturer, the estimated fuel consumption at 75 percent power would be 24.375 gallons for that time.
Factual narrative
On April 18, 1998, at 1100 hours Pacific daylight time, a Beech M35, N9703R, was substantially damaged after a total loss of engine power while on a 3/4 mile final approach to runway 07 at the North Las Vegas, Nevada, airport. The pilot force landed into a residential area, resulting in minor damage to two homes. The pilot and passenger both received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot had obtained a preflight weather briefing prior to departing Hawthorne, California, about 0930.
The pilot reported that he had just completed a requested left turn to the downwind when the engine quit. He said that he turned towards the airport and attempted a restart, changing the fuel selector several times.
The on-scene Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that the fuel selector was found in the auxiliary fuel tank position. According to recovery personnel, about 18 gallons of fuel was removed from the right fuel tanks, 2 gallons from the auxiliary and 16 from the right main tank. The left fuel tanks were ruptured.
The standard M35 fuel system consists of two 25-gallon main tanks, with 22 usable in each tank, and two 10-gallon interconnected auxiliary tanks, with 19.5 usable in each tank. The system has an electric fuel boost pump as standard equipment.
The flight from Hawthorne to North Las Vegas, according to the Los Angeles sectional aeronautical chart and Beech performance data, was estimated to be a 1.5-hour flight. According to the engine manufacturer, Continental Motors, the estimated fuel consumption at 75 percent power would be 24.375 gallons for that time.
After repeated requests, the pilot has not returned the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9703R
- Reported as
- Beech M35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-6210
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-C, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- HHR · Hawthorne, CA
- Destination
- VGT · NV
- Airport
- VGT · North Las Vegas, runway 7, 5,005 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 530 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VGT, 2 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.