Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Rosa, New Mexico 88432
Tuesady, September 30, 1997 15:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Approximately 20 minutes before reaching a planned fuel stop at Santa Rosa, NM, the engine lost power. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a dirt road. During the descent, he 'attempted a restart w/opposite wing tank selected;' however, the engine did not start. The pilot reported that his 'last fuel check indicated 1/8 - 1/4 fuel in both wing tanks, wing tip tanks empty.' During the landing roll, the nose landing gear impacted a ditch separating its wheel. The aircraft continued across the dirt road, crossed another ditch, and nosed over. Examination of the aircraft's fuel system revealed that the fuel selector was in the left tip tank position. The main fuel tanks and the wing tip tanks were 'void of fuel,' and 'there were not any fuel stains on the aircraft or the ground.' Only residual fuel was found in the fuel line to the gascolator and in the gascolator, and the carburetor fuel bowl had approximately 0.5 ounce of fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
improper planning/decision by the pilot, which led to fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, and a forced landing. A related factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | SANTA ROSA |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88432 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1550 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 62 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TCC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4064 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 53 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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) | 1398 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 30 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2020 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N260MT |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA371 |
| 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 | Siai-Marchetti |
| Aircraft Model | F.260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | F.260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3-80 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 5 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 2800 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DEE L. CONGER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5919 MONTICELLO AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | DALLAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75206 |
| 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 | PSP |
| Departure City | PALM SPRINGS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | Q58 |
| Destination City | SANTO ROSA |
| Destination State | NM |
| 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 | -- |