Beechcraft 95-B55 N814U

Summary

On 30 May 1994 at about 22:15 local time, a Beechcraft 95-B55 registered N814U, operated by John N. Osterkamp, was involved in an accident near Calexico, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 May 1994 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Calexico, California, United States

Nearest airport

Calexico International (CXL)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft 95-B55

Registration

N814U

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

John N. Osterkamp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Brawley

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX94LA229

Nobody was injured.

1) the pilot's failure to correctly position the fuel selectors prior to takeoff, 2) the resultant fuel starvation failure of the left engine in the takeoff initial climb, and 3) the failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot cleared U. S. Customs at Calexico, CA, and was on the ground for about 10 minutes. He said that after taxiing to the end of the runway he noticed a lull in the traffic and decided to immediately takeoff without performing a pretakeoff power or aircraft configuration check. The pilot said that he was reaching for the landing gear control just after liftoff when the left engine failed. The aircraft yawed and banked to the left and, before the pilot could regain control, the left wing tip contacted the ground. The aircraft cartwheeled to a stop off the left side of the runway. The aircraft was examined and the fuel quantity gauge selector switch was positioned to the main fuel tanks while the fuel selectors were positioned to the auxiliary fuel tanks. The left and right main fuel tanks contained 16 and 20 gallons, respectively, while the auxiliary tanks had less than 5 gallons. Fuel system continuity was established with no evidence of postaccident leakage noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.