Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rimrock Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rimrock, Arizona 86335
Saturday, June 28, 1997 17:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported that the wind was gusting as they watched the pilot attempt a go-around. As he added power, the engine sputtered and quit. One of the owners of the airplane stated he had refueled the airplane 3 days prior to the accident. He said he had topped the three tanks with autogas, which was approved for the airplane under an STC. The right wing's fuel capacity was 27.5 gallons of useable fuel. According to the pilot's operating handbook, the pilot is to switch to the right tank position after reaching a cruise altitude, and then operate from this tank until the fuel supply is exhausted. The pilot can then switch to the left tank, pull on the transfer pump switch, and refill the right main tank from the auxiliary fuel tank. The left tank was found nearly full, the auxiliary fuel tank had fuel in it, although it was found to be leaking from that tank. The right tank was completely empty. The fuel selector was located in the right position, with no signs of impact damage. The engine was examined at a later date, with no abnormalities noted. The pilot reported that it was normal practice to run on the right fuel tank enough so that the fuel in the auxiliary tank could be pumped into the right tank. Additionally, he estimated that the aircraft had approximately 2.5 hours of flight time on the right tank before the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel starvation due to the pilot's failure to monitor the fuel level in the right tank, and to select a tank containing fuel during the approach and landing in accordance with the checklist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | RIMROCK |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86335 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | RIMROCK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E76 |
| 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 | 1656 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 175 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7011 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 722 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 28 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1801 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5158U |
| NTSB Number | LAX97LA226 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 52903 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 2 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RC AIR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3807 S. JEWEL DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | FLAGSTAFF |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86001 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FLG |
| Departure City | FLAGSTAFF |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | E76 |
| 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 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |