Accident Claimed Three, Including Ex-POW

The National Transportation Safety Board says a lack of fuel may have caused a Piper Aerostar to go down in California, killing an ex-POW and to Oregonians, according to a preliminary report.

Pilot Bruce Klein of Winchester, OR reported the Aerostar 602P had only 15 gallons in the tank when he radioed air traffic controllers before the accident. The aircraft can hold 165 gallons of fuel; the report says Klein radioed mid-flight to request permission to land for a fuel stop at Meadows Field Airport (BFL) in Bakersfield.

"At 1155, the tower controller at BFL received a radio call from the airplane declaring an emergency due to engine problems," the report states. "ATC personnel requested to know how many people were on board, and the fuel remaining. The pilot reported to the controller that there were three occupants, and 15 gallons of fuel."

The plane reportedly had been filled up at Oregon's Roseburg Regional Airport (RBG), but an uneven tarmac may have prevented the tanks from filling to capacity, according to the Associated Press.

Klein and two others -- Sally Wilson of Oakland, OR, and retired Navy Captain Cole Black of Escondido, CA -- were killed November 7, when the plane went down in an orange grove northwest of Bakersfield, as reported by ANN.

Black was returning from a speaking engagement about his experiences as a POW in Vietnam at an Oregon college.

FMI: Read The NTSB Prelim