Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pocatello, Idaho 83201
Thursday, October 17, 1996 18:20 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft lost engine power while inbound for landing after a cross-country flight, and it nosed over during the ensuing forced landing. The pilot had flown several legs before the accident flight, and did not refuel at any en route stops. Both wing tanks were found empty, and no fuel was found in the gascolator. The pilot provided a statement including departure and arrival times and fuel on board for each of four legs. He stated that he used a calibrated dipstick to check fuel before his last departure on the 42-mile return flight. He said that the fuel remaining at that time was 19 gallons. Unusable fuel was 4 gallons. An inquiry to a Civil Air Patrol safety officer revealed that the dipstick was homemade; its accuracy was not determined. No mechanical discrepancy was found with the aircraft. There was evidence of inadequate consideration by the pilot concerning the accuracy of the dipstick calibration. Also, there was evidence that the aircraft may not have been in a level attitude when the dipstick readings were made.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
inadequate preflight by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, due to an inadequate supply of fuel. Soft terrain at the emergency landing site was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/17/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1820 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | POCATELLO |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83201 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 293 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1567 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 18 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 945 |
| 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 | N5117N |
| NTSB Number | SEA97LA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182Q |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 67528 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2960 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2808 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CIVIL AIR PATROL INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 105 S. HANSELL ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | MAXWELL AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36112 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IDA |
| Departure City | IDAHO FALLS |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1750 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PIH |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | -- |