Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bountiful, Utah 84010
Friday, May 21, 1999 11:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot recently purchased the airplane, and had accumulated 6 hours of flight experience in the airplane by the time of the accident. The day before the accident, the pilot topped-off the airplane's 24 gallon fuel tank, and flew touch and go landings for 45 minutes. On the day of the accident, he departed Skypark Airport for Brigham City, where he performed two touch and go landings. He then flew to Ogden-Hinckley Municipal Airport where he did a full stop landing. After a 45 minute stop, the pilot continued his flight to Skypark. As he approached the airport, his engine stopped. He said that his fuel gauge 'showed over 1/2,' and an airborne engine restart was unsuccessful. He performed a forced landing, and encountered a ditch during the landing roll. The FAA inspector, that went to the scene and examined the airplane, reported that he found no fuel or the smell of fuel. The total engine run time since the last refueling was not determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, and the subsequent fuel exhaustion during the flight. Factor was the airplane's inaccurate fuel gauge.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/21/1999
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City BOUNTIFUL
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84010
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID SLC
Elevation of weather observation facility 4227
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 30000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 18000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 801
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 21 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 309
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:33AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4461V
NTSB Number DEN99LA082
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 Rich
Aircraft Model RV3-A
Aircraft Series Identifier RV3-A
Aircraft Serial Number 872
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 16 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 342
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN R. MCCALL
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16 W. 3300 SOUTH
Aircraft Owner City BOUNTIFUL
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84010
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 ODG
Departure City OGDEN
Departure State UT
Departure Country
Departure Time 1045
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code BTF
Destination City
Destination State UT
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 --