NTSB Factual Report

On June 18, 2005, about 0730 Pacific daylight time, a Beech K35, N3067C, collided with a pole during a forced landing near Apple Valley, California. The owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries, and the passenger was not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Deer Valley Airport (DVT), Phoenix, Arizona, about 0530 mountain standard time, with a planned intermediate destination of Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), Fresno, California, for fuel and a final destination of Medford, Oregon. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

In a written statement, the pilot stated that the engine began sputtering, and he thought that he had a fuel problem. The fuel pressure began to vary. The pilot switched fuel tanks, turned on the auxiliary fuel pump, and richened the mixture. He was receiving flight following so he notified air traffic control (ATC) of the problem, and they vectored him to Apple Valley Airport. He noted that the fuel flow stabilized briefly, and then started varying again. Shortly thereafter, the engine quit, and the pilot advised ATC that he could not make it to Apple Valley and would have to make a landing on a dirt road. At that time, he turned the fuel pump off, and made the landing with the gear down and flaps extended. The airplane touched down successfully on the main landing gear. During the rollout, a wing clipped a metal post, which spun the airplane into a ditch. The nose wheel collapsed, and the wing sustained substantial damage.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, Beech, and Teledyne Continental Motors examined the airplane at Air Transport, Phoenix, Arizona. Recovery personnel said that, when they recovered the airplane, it had 15 gallons of fuel in each of the main wing tanks. They found no fuel in the auxiliary fuel tanks, which can contain a maximum of 19 gallons of usable fuel according to the manufacturer's systems description.

Recovery personnel changed the propeller. Investigators removed the upper spark plugs and found no carbon or residue in them. All of the electrodes were circular. They pressure checked the fuel feed lines and the fuel vent lines in the wings, and all were open. They drained the fuel tank selector body, and observed a blue fluid that smelled similar to aviation fuel. They opened the engine cowling, and observed no damage in the engine bay. They removed and checked the engine oil dipstick. It was at the full mark, and the oil appeared clean without contamination. The engine inlet air filter was undamaged although dusty, with a nickel sized rock embedded between the inlet grating and the filter. In the cockpit, the fuel selector was in the auxiliary fuel tank position. The fuel boost pump was in the emergency or HI position.

Recovery personnel plumbed a fuel supply into the left wing fuel inlet. They started the engine, and ran it at various power settings for 15 minutes. The engine ran smoothly at all settings. During the engine test run, the maximum rpm was 2,700 and the idle was 750 rpm. During a magneto functional test, the right magneto dropped 100 rpm while the drop on the left magneto was 75 rpm. The engine displayed good response to the throttle and exhibited no hesitation. The engine oil pressure during the engine test run was 80 pounds per square inch.

NTSB Probable Cause

fuel starvation due to the pilot's inadequate in-flight fuel system management and failure to set the fuel selector valve to a tank containing fuel. A factor was the ditch that the aircraft encountered.