Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Laughlin/Bullhead Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bullhead City, Arizona 86430
Tuesady, October 24, 2000 14:04 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot made a power-off landing about 1/2 mile short of the runway in rough terrain, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot was abeam the airport in cruise at 4,500 feet when the engine lost power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine, and made a dead stick landing. The wings had been removed during recovery. The recovery agent drained about 8 ounces of fuel from the left wing, and 28 gallons of fuel from the right wing. Each tank held 40 gallons of fuel (37 gallons useable). The top spark plugs exhibited characteristics of normal operation. Investigators removed the valve covers and manually rotated the engine. They obtained thumb compression on all cylinders; the valves moved in sequence and all appeared to have the same lift; the accessories rotated freely; and all ignition leads sparked. The throttle, propeller, and mixture controls all operated stiffly through their full range of motion. The fuel tanks were not compromised and the vents were open. The fuel selector valve was at an intermediate position about 0.5 inches clockwise from the right tank position, and the boost pump switch was in the off position. Investigators connected an auxiliary battery to the airplane battery and hooked up a fuel supply to the right wing fuel line. They disconnected the fuel inlet line to the fuel manifold distribution valve. With the mixture and throttle levers in, there was no fuel flow. They turned the boost pump on and a steady stream of fuel spurt out. The fuel flow gauge showed less than 5 gallons per hour initially, but peaked at 16 gallons per hour. The owner's manual directed pilot's who experienced a loss of engine power to turn the boost pump ON.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning that resulted in fuel starvation and a loss of engine power, and his failure to engage the fuel boost pump in accordance with the owner's manual. A factor was rough terrain in the forced landing area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/24/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1404 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | BULLHEAD CITY |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86430 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | LAUGHLIN/BULLHEAD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IFP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 320 |
| Airport Elevation | 695 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1345 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IFP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 695 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12347 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 24 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8587M |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA022 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 35B33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 35B33 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CD-677 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | May 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 7996 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GERALD D. MAGRUDER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92124 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | AZ82 |
| Departure City | HEBREN OVERGUAR |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1204 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L15 |
| Destination City | HENDERSON |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2002 2:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 7520 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |