N3165S

On May 19, 1997, at 1200 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 182G, N3165S, nosed over while making a forced landing near Corona, California. The aircraft sustained substantial damage; however, neither the pilot nor his two passengers were injured. The aircraft was rented by the pilot from Corona Aircraft Sales for a personal flight when the accident occurred. The flight originated that morning in Ensenada, Baja del Norte, Mexico, and then departed Brown Field in San Diego, California, at 1100 after clearing customs. Marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the destination and no flight plan was filed.

The pilot reported that when he approached his destination he was unable to identify the airport because of the low clouds and haze. He decided to check the weather at the Chino airport, but after he had flown about 5 miles beyond Corona his engine began to sputter. He switched his fuel selector to the left tank and rocked the wings but the engine ran only for a few moments before stopping completely. The pilot then attempted an off-airfield landing.

The pilot said he was flying by pilotage and dead reckoning and did not have any onboard navigation equipment. He stated to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors that he had neither estimated his time en route by checking the winds aloft nor performed any over the ground speed checks. There was no pilot operator's handbook (POH) onboard the aircraft and the pilot had not performed any fuel consumption calculations.

The pilot estimated that he had refueled with 28 gallons of 100/130 fuel before departing Ensenada and had 56 gallons of fuel remaining when he took off from San Diego. Investigators estimated about 23.4 gallons would have been consumed to complete the flight from Ensenada to Corona. The manufacturer stated that the total fuel capacity of the aircraft was 84 gallons, including 5 gallons of unusable fuel.

A postaccident inspection by FAA inspectors revealed both tanks contained only residual fuel. They examined the soil under the fuel tanks and engine, and detected a slight odor of what they believed could have been auto fuel. When asked by the inspectors, the pilot was unable to produce a fuel receipt for his last reported fuel purchase in Ensenada.

An FAA airworthiness inspector, who reviewed all applicable airworthiness directives (AD's), found that all required AD's had been completed. A further review of the aircraft records, however, disclosed that four of the AD's had not been permanently recorded, as required by Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR).