Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fruita, Colorado 81521
Wednesday, December 10, 1997 14:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he did not visually check the fuel but 'stuck his finger in the fuel tank and felt fuel' (in his accident report, however, he said he visually inspected the fuel). He departed North Las Vegas Airport. When the airplane was approximately 18 miles west of Grand Junction, the engine lost power, forcing the pilot to land in an onion field. The airplane struck a pile of onions and nosed over. The pilot said there was 62 gallons of fuel on board the airplane. According to the Airplane Owner's Manual, standard tanks hold 65 gallons (58 gallons usable). The pilot said he cruised at 9,500 feet msl, used a power setting of 18-19 inches of manifold pressure and 2300 rpm, and leaned the mixture. According to the Cessna 207 cruise performance chart for 10,000 feet, the engine should have developed between 48 and 51 percent of its rated horsepower (300 hp) and consumed between 10.3 and 11.0 gallons of fuel per hour. This would give the airplane a range of 695 miles and an endurance of between 5.3 and 5.6 hours. The pilot's accident report indicates the airplane had been aloft approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes. An FAA inspector who examined the airplane at the accident site said the airplane had been inverted prior to his arrival. When the airplane was placed upright, he found no evidence of fuel in the fuel tanks, fuel stains on the ground, or fuel dye stains on the wings. There was no odor of fuel in the area. The pilot said that although he had flown other Cessna single engine airplanes, this was his first experience flying the Cessna 207.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power for undetermined reasons .
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/10/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | FRUITA |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81521 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3951 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1099 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 10 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1528 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N91002 |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA066 |
| 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 | 207 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 207 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20700003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | EAGLE AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2826 PERIMETER RD., SUITE 101 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89030 |
| 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 | VGT |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1015 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GJT |
| Destination City | GRAND JUNCTION |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | -- |