LAX82FUG13 · Beech 95-C55
Beech 95-C55 · Accident: in flight encounter with weather en route
From Phoenix, AZ to La Verne, CA
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX82FUG13
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Beech 95-C55
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft 55
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N707JF
- Operator
- Robert E. Fawcett · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Phoenix, AZTo La Verne, CA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · descent
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- In flight encounter with weather
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Fuel starvation; Utility pole
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Fluid, fuel › Starvation
- Pilot in command › Emergency procedure, improper
- Pilot in command › Fuel supply, improper use of
- Pilot in command › Propeller feathering, not performed
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Ontario, CA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
WHILE DESCENDING NEAR BANNING, CA, THE PILOT LOWERED THE GEAR AFTER BECOMING AWARE OF A POPPED CIRCUIT BREAKER. AT THE DESTINATION, THERE WAS AN OVERCAST WITH THE TOPS AT 4500 FT, SO HE DIVERTED TOWARD BURBANK, CA WITH THE GEAR DOWN. THE OVERCAST EXTENDED THROUGHOUT THE AREA, SO HE TURNED BACK TO LAND AT PALM SPRINGS. WHILE EN ROUTE, THE LEFT ENGINE LOST POWER, BUT REPORTEDLY, IT WAS NOT FEATHERED, NOR WAS THE ELECTRIC FUEL BOOST PUMP ACTIVATED. THE PILOT STATED HE REPOSITIONED THE FUEL SELECTORS, BUT HE COULD NOT RECALL TO WHICH POSITIONS. DURING THE ATTEMPTED RESTART, THE PLANE DESCENDED INTO THE OVERCAST. THE PILOT THROTTLED BACK AND BROKE OUT AT ABOUT 1700 FT MSL. SOMETIME DURING THE DESCENT, THE GEAR WAS RETRACTED. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE LEFT WING STRUCK A LIGHT POLE WHILE LANDING WHEELS-UP IN A STREET AT NIGHT. THE PLANE SLID ABOUT 550 FT TO A STOP AND BEGAN BURNING. THE RIGHT MAIN TANK STILL CONTAINED AN ESTIMATED 10 TO 15 GALLONS OF FUEL. THE OTHER FUEL TANKS WERE AT OR NEAR EMPTY. LATER, BOTH ENGINES WERE STARTED AND PERFORMED NORMALLY.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX82FUG13
- Event ID
- 20020917X03699
- Case number
- LAX82FUG13
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1982-06-22.
- API snapshot SHA-256: e464557a620ebfcdee3c5cd5528e665373e86d3067c98c615fd2656a4565ac9c; retrieved 2026-09-21T18:12:48.177Z.