Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Swanson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eatonville, Washington 98328
Friday, July 9, 1999 18:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Neither the pilot nor the pilot-rated passenger recall the events leading up to the accident. Witnesses reported that the aircraft was observed low on final approach and that the engine lost power. One witness reported that just before he lost sight of the aircraft, he heard a noise as if the engine was trying to be started. The flight was returning from an approximate two hour flight duration. Fuel consumption calculations estimated for the flight indicate that approximately 14 to 19 gallons of fuel would be required for the flight, with 16 to 11 gallons remaining at the completion of the flight. The flight began with approximately 30 gallons of fuel. Documentation of the wreckage indicated that approximately 12 gallons of fuel was drained from the left wing fuel tank, while only 22 ounces of fuel was drained from the right fuel tank. The fuel selector was found positioned to the left side fuel tank. There was no evidence of fuel leakage. Post-crash examination of the engine revealed that no fuel was found in the fuel lines. The engine was then prepared for an engine run. The engine was started and ran long enough to demonstrate smooth operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper fuel management which led to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | EATONVILLE |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98328 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SWANSON |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WA20 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 850 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 303 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 994 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8873M |
| NTSB Number | SEA99FA112 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A23 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A23 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | M-616 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 12 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46 |
| Airframe Hours | 1449 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KEITH M. RICHARDS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 1324 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EATONVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98328 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AWO |
| Departure City | ARLINGTON |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | WA20 |
| 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 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 2990 |
| Runway Width | 36 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |