Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Deer Valley, Arizona 85027
Wednesday, October 20, 1999 18:19 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After flying 4.4 Hobbs hours since the last fueling, the engine lost power and the airplane collided with a tree in the ensuing forced landing. Fueling records show the airplane was fueled the day before the accident, and then another renter pilot flew the airplane for 1.3 hours without refueling. The pilot did a preflight of the airplane and checked the left wing tank for fuel by sticking his finger in the filler opening. He did not check the right fuel tank. He noted that the left fuel gauge read full and the right fuel gauge read 3/4 of a tank when he departed. The pilot flew north to Flagstaff and then returned to the local Phoenix area and practiced a touch-and-go at a nearby airport while he waited for the sun to set. He noticed that the fuel gauge needles were not moving, which in his mind may have been an indicator of a low fuel state; however, he said he felt the gauges were inaccurate instead. He elected to continue his flight back to the originating airport, bypassing two airports along the way. The pilot was northeast of the second possible alternate airport when the engine sputtered the first time. He elected to continue his flight towards the destination airport, 12 miles further on, rather than perform a precautionary landing. The engine then lost all power and the pilot executed a forced landing in a clear area. During the landing roll, the airplane collided with a small tree. The airplane's Hobbs meter readings show the pilot flew the airplane for 3.1 hours on the accident flight, for a total of 4.4 hours since the last refueling.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight verification of the fuel quantity, and, once he became aware of the critical fuel state, his decision to over-fly two alternate airports in order to continue to his destination.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/20/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1819 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | DEER VALLEY |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85027 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | 1815 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1476 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| 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) | 30 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1849 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 20 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 | Apr 9 2001 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N738FY |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA021 |
| 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 | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17269954 |
| 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 | Sep 28 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | 2056 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MAGNETIC WEST LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16015 N. 17TH PL. |
| Aircraft Owner City | PHOENIX |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85022 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WESTWIND AVIATION INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 732 W. DEER VALLEY RD |
| Operator City | PHOENIX |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85027 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DVT |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 8:55AM |
| 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 | -- |