Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cedar City, Utah 84720
Monday, May 3, 1999 14:51 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot contacted DUATS five separate times to plan his trip to Cedar City, Utah. The flight departed Boulder, Colorado, at 0908 and landed at Nucla, Colorado, at 1122 because of weather. The pilot departed Nucla, without refueling, at 1207. He received an in-flight IFR clearance at 1324, and proceeded on to Cedar City in IMC. At 1431, the pilot declared minimum fuel, and at 1443, the pilot declared an emergency for fuel exhaustion. The pilot reported that the engine started, and then at 1450, he said that he was circling to the ground. Although the pilot didn't say if the engine was running during the final minute of flight, physical evidence at the accident site suggested that it was not. An FAA inspector, who was driving southwest bound on I-15, approximately 7,000 feet south of the impact point, at the time of the accident, reported mist, light rain mixed with light snow, and visibility estimated to be 5 car lengths. An Air Force helicopter located the downed airplane at 1608. There were no indications of fuel in the aircraft at the accident scene.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate fuel consumption calculations. Factors were the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the obscuring weather conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/3/1999
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1451
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City CEDAR CITY
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84720
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 5
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 209
Weather Observation Facility ID CDC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5623
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1900
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Overcast
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 5709
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1058
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 3 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2001
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Aug 16 2001 5:09PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5594Q
NTSB Number DEN99FA071
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mooney
Aircraft Model M20E
Aircraft Series Identifier M20E
Aircraft Serial Number 645
Certified Max Gross Weight 2575
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 21 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 5886
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name GLENN P. DAVIS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4229 LEE HILL RD.
Aircraft Owner City BOULDER
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80302
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 6V6
Departure City NUCLA
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1209
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CDC
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 10:35AM
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 --