Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
El Tiro Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marana, Arizona 85653
Tuesady, May 9, 2000 12:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
It was the airplane's 15th flight of the day, but the pilot's first. When the tow pilot relieved the previous pilot, he received a briefing, which noted the previous flights, airplane performance, and fuel status, 1/4 full in the left tank and a full right tank. He was departing with a glider in tow when the engine sputtered, regained power, then sputtered again. He released the glider and attempted to switch to the right tank. The airplane collided with a fence at the end of the field. The original 150 horsepower engine was replaced by a 180 horsepower engine in accordance with a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). It stated the left tank was the main tank, which was to be used for takeoff and landings, while the right tank was an auxiliary tank, which was to be used in level flight only. The STC also required a placard be placed on the left (main) fuel tank noting 'capacity 18 gallons, 9 gallons useable.' Another placard, which read 'EMPTY,' was to be placed on the left-hand fuel gauge at the original 1/2 full mark. These placards were noted in a supplement to the airplane flight manual. This supplement also noted in the limitations section 'Do not take off when left hand fuel tank gauge registers in the red area.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane as required by the airplane's published flight manual resulting in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | MARANA |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85653 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | EL TIRO |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AZ67 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2100 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2704 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| 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) | 35 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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) | 10122 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 9 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7345Z |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA189 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18-150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-8307 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 16 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 31 |
| Airframe Hours | 9968 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TUSCON SOARING CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19790 W. EL TIRO ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | TUCSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85717 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AZ67 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 15 2001 4:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 5120 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |