Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Galena, Alaska 99741
Thursday, September 23, 1999 22:05 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot closed his flight plan, stating that the airport was in sight. The pilot of a departing airplane told the NTSB investigator that the accident pilot transmitted he was 'five miles out for landing, followed by 'I'm three miles out, just ran out of fuel at 1,000 feet, and am going to try to land on a road or the closed airstrip.' The pilot said he was unable to reach the closed airstrip, it was dark, and the airplane landed in the trees. The pilot said he thought he departed with a full fuel load of 39 gallons (38 gallons usable), but did not visually confirm the tanks were topped off after the lineman from a Fixed Base Operator filled the airplane's tanks. He said the flight lasted 4 hours 37 minutes. The cruise performance charts for a Cessna 172 with an O-300 engine predict fuel consumption at 2,400 rpm between 8.1 and 9.2 gallons per hour.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to refuel, and the resulting fuel exhaustion. A factor was the dark night which hampered location of a nearby closed, and unlit, airstrip.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/23/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2205 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | GALENA |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99741 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| 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 | 2155 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 152 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1775 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 24 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 755 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5309R |
| NTSB Number | ANC99LA151 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17252831 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Jul 26 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 4024 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARCTIC CAMPS AND EQUIPMENT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9312 VANGUARD DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99507 |
| 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 | IYS |
| Departure City | NEW WASILLA |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GAL |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:09AM |
| 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 | -- |