Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alamosa, Colorado 81101
Thursday, July 13, 1995 12:10 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

WHEN THE PILOT ADVANCED THE MIXTURE CONTROLS FORWARD IN PREPARATION FOR LANDING, BOTH ENGINES LOST POWER SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE AIRPLANE WAS AT LOW ALTITUDE AND AIRSPEED. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT COLLIDED WITH ROUGH TERRAIN AS THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A FORCED LANDING. THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMPS WERE FOUND IN THE HIGH BOOST POSITION. ACCORDING TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL AIRPLANE FLIGHT MANUAL, IF THE ENGINE-DRIVEN FUEL PUMPS ARE OPERATING NORMALLY, A TOTAL LOSS OF POWER MAY OCCUR, IF THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMPS ARE PLACED IN THE HIGH BOOST POSITION. DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS ABOUT 9700' AT THE AIRPORT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

TOTAL LOSS OF POWER IN BOTH ENGINES DUE TO FLOODING AFTER THE PILOT HAD PLACED BOTH FUEL PUMP SWITCHES IN THE HIGH BOOST POSITION AND MOVED THE MIXTURE CONTROLS TO THE FULL RICH POSITION. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR THE FORCED LANDING.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/13/1995
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1210
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City ALAMOSA
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81101
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1159 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID ALA
Elevation of weather observation facility 7535
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 9709
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1220
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 13 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1230
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:24PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6976T
NTSB Number FTW95FA294
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 310D
Aircraft Series Identifier 310D
Aircraft Serial Number 39276
Certified Max Gross Weight 4990
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 5
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 3 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 21
Airframe Hours 4751
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DOUGLAS R. FRITZ
Aircraft Owner Street Address 23203 CAMINITO ANDRETA
Aircraft Owner City LAGUNA HILLS
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92653
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address BOX 883
Operator City YERMO
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 92398
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Business
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SNA
Departure City SANTA ANA
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ALA
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --