Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Los Alamos Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544
Sunday, August 10, 1997 12:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While on final approach to runway 27 at the Los Alamos Airport, about 3 hours 45 minutes after takeoff from Chandler, Arizona, the aircraft's engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot and passenger reported the winds were from the south, and while on final approach they encountered a down draft and the pilot applied full power. 'The engine responded but they hit terrain wings level short of the runway.' The airplane came to rest on its left side about 300 yards east of the approach end of runway 27. The terrain was rocky and sloping up about 20 to 25 degrees to the west. Examination of the aircraft revealed that there was no breach in the fuel system. The carburetor fuel bowl contained approximately 2 ounces of fuel, and only a couple drops of fuel drained out of the fuel line. Approximately 2.9 gallons of fuel were drained from both fuel tanks. The aircraft had two standard wing fuel tanks with a total capacity of 26 gallons of fuel. Total usable fuel for all flight conditions was 22.5 gallons. Total unusable fuel was 3.5 gallons. Winds at Santa Fe, New Mexico, 17 nautical miles southeast of the accident site, were from 180 degrees at 15 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's failure to refuel. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | LOS ALAMOS |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87544 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LOS ALAMOS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAM |
| 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 | 7171 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1250 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 142 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6345 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 9758 |
| 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) | 1333 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 10 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N22286 |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA303 |
| 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 | 150H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15068193 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 23 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 144 |
| Airframe Hours | 5539 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GEORGE M. THOMPSON III |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 510 SALISBURY STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | KERNERSVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27284 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WARREN G. ROBBINS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 31737 42ND AVE. SW |
| Operator City | FEDERAL WAY |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 98023 |
| 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 | CHD |
| Departure City | CHANDLER |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 810 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAM |
| Destination City | LAS ALAMOS |
| Destination State | NM |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5550 |
| Runway Width | 113 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |