Beechcraft 95-B55 N1898W
23 November 1994 · Santa Monica, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 23 November 1994 at about 04:12 local time, a Beechcraft 95-B55 registered N1898W, operated by Cloverfield Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Santa Monica, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 04:12
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Santa Monica, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- Santa Monica Municipal (SMO)
- Coordinates
- 34.0108, -118.4606
- Aircraft
- Beechcraft 95-B55
- Registration
- N1898W
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Cloverfield Aviation, Inc.
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Aircraft damage
- Destroyed
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Night/Dark
- NTSB number
- LAX95LA040
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
fuel starvation to both engines due to the CFI's inadequate fuel consumption calculations during the flight, and his failure to ensure that adequate fuel existed in the main tanks to complete the traffic pattern circuit.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
THE CFI AND STUDENT HAD DEPARTED SANTA MONICA AT 1356 ON A CROSS-COUNTRY CHECKOUT WITH FULL FUEL TANKS. TAKEOFFS, LANDINGS, AND/OR INSTRUMENT APPROACHES WERE MADE AT 6 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHT. THE CFI KNEW THE AIRCRAFT HAD INACCURATE FUEL GAUGES. AFTER FLYING FOR 5.3 HOBBS-METER-HOURS, WHILE USING FUEL FROM A COMBINATION OF AUX AND MAIN TANKS, THEY RETURNED TO SANTA MONICA. BOTH PILOTS REPORTED THAT THE MAIN TANKS' FUEL GAUGES INDICATED AT OR ABOVE THE 'YELLOW ARC.' THE CFI AUTHORIZED ONE FINAL TRAFFIC PATTERN CIRCUIT. WHILE CLIMBING TO 1,000 FT, ONE OF THE ENGINES STARTED RUNNING ROUGH THEN QUIT. SECONDS LATER, POWER WAS ALSO LOST ON THE SECOND ENGINE. THE CFI TOOK CONTROL, REVERSED COURSE, AND GLIDED TO THE RUNWAY WITH THE LANDING GEAR INTENTIONALLY RETRACTED TO INCREASE THE LIKLIHOOD OF REACHING THE AIRPORT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED BY THE POSTCRASH FIRE.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Beechcraft 95 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Feb 1994 | Beechcraft 95 | Chesterfield, Missouri, United States | CY Aviation Leasing, Inc | Fatal | 2 |
| 18 Apr 1994 | Beechcraft 95 | Greeley, Colorado, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 30 May 1994 | Beechcraft 95-B55 | Calexico, California, United States | John N. Osterkamp | No injuries | - |
| 15 Mar 1994 | Beechcraft 95-B55B | Battlement Mesa, Colorado, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 15 May 1994 | Beechcraft 95-55 | New Port Richey, Florida, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 7 Jun 1994 | Beechcraft 95-C55 | Wauchula, Florida, United States | - | Fatal | 4 |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Sep 1994 | Piper PA-28R-201 | Fort Bragg, California, United States | Sundance Flying Club | Serious injuries | - |
| 12 May 1994 | Schweizer G-164B | Yuba City, California, United States | Sutter Butte Dusters, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 3 Sep 1994 | Cessna T210L | Kettleman City, California, United States | Willie Alves Rodrigues | No injuries | - |
| 13 May 1994 | Maule M-5-235C | Columbia, California, United States | White, James L. | No injuries | - |
| 19 May 1994 | Cessna 150L | Rio Linda, California, United States | Hinckley, Thomas, F. | Serious injuries | - |
| 23 Sep 1994 | Robinson R-22 | Chico, California, United States | Sierra Aviation | No injuries | - |