Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Farmington, New Mexico 87401
Tuesady, December 14, 1999 16:20 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On a cross-country flight that was on a route the pilot flew often as a non-stop trip, the airplane encountered constant head winds that reduced ground speed to about 90 knots. After 6 hours and 50 minutes of flight, the pilot made the decision to land at an airport short of his destination for fuel. According to the pilot, when the airplane was about 35 miles short of the intended fuel stop, the engine lost all power due to fuel exhaustion and he conducted a forced landing to rough uneven terrain. During landing roll, the aircraft nosed over.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, and his improper inflight decision to not land and refuel, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/14/1999
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1620
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City FARMINGTON
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87401
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 12
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 1653 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID FMN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5503
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 5000
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) 792
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 14 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1935
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 12:04PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9616H
NTSB Number DEN00LA027
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 182R
Aircraft Series Identifier 182R
Aircraft Serial Number 1826793
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 Jul 28 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1481
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RCE OF AUSTIN, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. BOX 9012
Aircraft Owner City AUSTIN
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 78766
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name BOBBY LYNN BIXLER
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 HYI
Departure City SAN MARCOS
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 930
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DRO
Destination City DURANGO
Destination State CO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
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 --