Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Show Low Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Show Low, Arizona 85901
Thursday, October 31, 1996 9:05 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft had been parked on the ramp for 7 days prior to the accident flight because of poor weather, which included snow, rain, and below freezing temperatures. The fuel tanks were partially filled with fuel. The pilot reported that no moisture was observed during the preflight of the aircraft, and that the engine run-up was normal. After departure and landing gear retraction, the right engine lost power. The pilot then pushed all engine power controls forward, and verified that the engine fuel boost pumps were on and the landing gear retracted prior to making an off-airport forced landing. According to the pilot's written statement, the engine failure occurred after lift-off and prior to obtaining Vyse. Subsequent examination of the four fuel filler cap O-rings revealed signs of deterioration and cracking, which was sufficient to allow water to enter the fuel tanks. The outside air temperature was below freezing the night prior to and the morning of the accident. The aircraft had completed an annual inspection 3 months and 15 hours prior to the accident flight. The right engine was examined following aircraft recovery with no discrepancies noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
water/ice contamination in the fuel system and/or fuel filters due to failure of the maintenance facility that performed the annual inspection to identify and replace four cracked and deteriorated fuel filler cap O-rings. A factor in this accident was the pilot's failure to identify, and recognize the contamination hazard with, the cracked and deteriorated fuel filler cap O-rings during the preflight of the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/31/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | SHOW LOW |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85901 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SHOW LOW MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SOW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1489 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 31 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 829 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1039Q |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA029 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 310H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 310H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 310H0039 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| 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 | Jul 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 4193 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARTIN STUART REVOCABLE TRUST |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1458 W. EMERALD KEY COURT |
| Aircraft Owner City | GILBERT |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85233 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | MARTIN J. STUART |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SOW |
| Departure City | SHOW LOW |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHD |
| Destination City | CHANDLER |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |