Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prescott, Arizona 86301
Sunday, September 17, 2000 15:18 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Due to a loss of engine power, the pilot made a forced landing in an open field and collided with desert shrubs before coming to rest inverted. The pilot stated that he had refueled to maximum tank capacity prior to takeoff and calculated the en route time to the planned refueling stop at 4 hours 15 minutes. He stated that he was 4 hours 10 minutes into the flight and near the refueling airport when the engine quit. He contacted the local tower and informed them that he was out of fuel and was going to try to land on a highway. He had to maneuver to avoid on-coming vehicular traffic and landed in the brush-covered field. Responding personnel did not see or smell fuel in the airplane or on the ground surrounding the airplane. Mechanical continuity was established in the engine during an examination. With the fuel pump turned on, a fuel leak was found at the fuel line fitting where it enters the carburetor. The leak rate with just the boost pump on was 1 drop per minute. Heavy fuel staining was noted on the carburetor bowl below the bowl seal gasket and around the line fitting, and on induction hoses directly below this point. The heavy and thick stain residue was consistent with a long-term leak. Review of the logbooks revealed that the engine had been reinstalled after an overhaul about 8 days prior to the accident. A remote fuel source was attached to the fuel fitting of the left wing and an engine ground run to full power was conducted with no discrepancies noted. According to the airplane manufacture, this airplane holds 48 gallons of fuel with 4 gallons unusable fuel. The range/cruise performance charts in the Airplane Flight Manual shows a Best Power fuel consumption of 9.0 gallons per hour at 65 percent power, and 10.5 gallons per hour at 75 percent power. The endurance time shown in the charts for 65 percent power is 5.5 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An improper engine installation by other maintenance personnel that resulted in a fuel leak at the main fuel line fitting to the carburetor and subsequent fuel exhaustion during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/17/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1518 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | PRESCOTT |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86301 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1532 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5045 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| 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) | 90 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 37 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | 10141 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 17 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1542 |
| 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 | N6303C |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA341 |
| 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-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7890360 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 9 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46 |
| Airframe Hours | 9454 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FALCON EXECUTIVE AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4766 E. FALCON DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MESA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85205 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 068 |
| Departure City | MARIPOSA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1105 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PRC |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2001 3:43PM |
| 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 | -- |