NTSB Identification: WPR12LA185
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, April 27, 2012 in Cloverdale, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/25/2013
Aircraft: BELLANCA 17-30A, registration: N80SV
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot reported that during the initial climb, about 2,000 feet above the ground, he switched to the auxiliary fuel tank and the engine lost power. He applied full throttle and mixture, as well as established a glideslope to return to the airport. The airplane descended faster than the pilot expected and impacted terrain short of the runway. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The right, left, and auxiliary fuel tanks were all about a quarter full. The airplane flight manual states that the fuel selector valve should be on the main tank containing the most fuel during takeoff and landing. The auxiliary tank should only be used in level flight. During a climb, with the auxiliary fuel tank about one-quarter full, it is likely that fuel within the tank was insufficient to exit the tank through the fuel feed and therefore starved the engine of fuel.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power during climb due to fuel starvation.
On April 27, 2012, about 1032 Pacific daylight time, a Bellanca 17-30A, N80SV, sustained substantial damage to the wings during an off airport landing near Cloverdale, California. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant was uninjured. The airplane was registered to the pilot and operated as a personal cross country flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Cloverdale Municipal Airport (060), Cloverdale, California, about 1028.
The pilot reported that during the initial climb, at about 2,000 feet above the ground, he switched the fuel selector to the auxiliary fuel tank and the engine lost power. He applied full throttle and mixture control, and established a glide slope to return to the airport. The airplane’s sink rate was greater than he had expected and the airplane landed in a vineyard about ¼ of a mile short of the runway. During the landing sequence, the airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings.
During a post-accident examination of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector, thumb compression was confirmed on all cylinders and spark was obtained from the magnetos. The magneto switch was also examined and no anomalies were noted. Fuel was visually noted in both main fuel tanks and the auxiliary fuel tank. The airplane’s master switch was turned on and the left main fuel tank gauge indicated slightly more than ¼ fuel remaining in the left main tank, the right main fuel tank gauge indicated slightly less than ¼ fuel remaining in the right main tank. The auxiliary fuel tank gauge indicated approximately ¼ fuel remaining in the tank.
In the performance section of the Bellanca Viking 17-30 Airplane Flight Manual, it states “Takeoff and land with fuel selector valve on main tank containing most fuel. Use fuel from auxiliary tanks in level flight only.”
In the limitations section of the Airplane Flight Manual, it states that a placard should be placed on the fuel selector valve which states: “Use aux tank in level flight only.” The FAA Inspector reported that this placard was present in the airplane; however, it was covered by the airplane’s sheepskin interior.
The scene near the Cloverdale Municipal Airport on Friday, April 27, 2012.
Wimmer, 70, of Healdsburg was headed to San Francisco to meet an airplane broker who was going to arrange the sale of the Bellanca, a four-seat, low-wing aircraft.
Lifting off from the Cloverdale airport at 10:30 a.m., Wimmer, a seasoned pilot with 35 years of flying experience including flight instruction for other pilots, reached 2,000 feet when the engine cut out.
“I immediately started fiddling,” he said.
Wimmer turned the plane around and headed back toward the Cloverdale Airport.
“Unfortunately there was a wind coming from the north — a heavy wind,” he said. “I couldn’t glide back to the runway.”
He didn’t panic, though. “I just felt very calm,” he said.
Wimmer put the landing gear down and set his sights on the vineyards near the runway. The plane had slowed to about 40 miles per hour when the landing gear began snagging the trellises that lined the vineyard, Wimmer said.
“It slowed the plane down, so when I hit it only felt like 10 or 15 miles an hour,” he said.
Wimmer turned off the electricity and climbed out.
Emergency crews from Cloverdale Fire and CalFire were on scene to attend to Wimmer, but found a man who had only minor abrasions.
“He said he was was perfectly fine,” said Cloverdale firefighter Javier Lopez.
“It was less than a quarter of a mile” from the runway, said Cloverdale Capt. Roger Fletcher.
“I’m amazed,” Wimmer said.
But the Heladsburg man, an insurance agent, was left shaking his head over more than his good fortune. Prior to taking off on what he expected would be his final flight, Wimmer had cancelled the insurance coverage on his plane under the assumption that the sale was imminent.
The plane, valued at approximately $60,000, now sits destroyed in a field. Wimmer said he’ll see what he can get for “a salvaged airplane.”
“I’m heartbroken,” he said.
Wimmer called his girlfriend in San Francisco who told him “you knew you wanted to get rid of the airplane, you just didn’t know you were going to get rid of it this way.”
