Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Phoenix, Arizona 85027
Monday, October 9, 2000 11:16 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While on final approach, low, and configured to land, the engine lost all power. The pilot attempted to land in a field and collided with power lines. After returning from Mexico, and reentering the United States at a port of entry, the flight proceeded to the destination airport. Upon arrival the tower advised the pilot to hold for landing sequence, and was cleared to land after about 5 minutes of holding. The ATCT controllers observed the airplane turn left and descend steeply out of sight. Fuel was not available at the Mexico location and not purchased at the port of entry. According to a recovered trip log of seven previous trips, an average similar trip took 3.5 hours as recorded from the mechanical recording tachometer. The average fuel quantity used per round trip was 68.5 gallons. The highest recorded fuel used was 72.6 gallons. The longest round trip time was 3.7 hours. The lowest fuel quantity used was 65.1 gallons. The average fuel burn rate was 19.57 gallons per hour. The average number of gallons remaining at Deer Valley airport was 20.5 plus or minus 5 gallons. The actual fuel quantity could not be determined. The airplane has a two-tank system of 44.5 gallons of usable fuel in each tank, when properly serviced. The fuel selector was found in the off position, possibly a reaction to the emergency. The selector provides fuel from either the left or right fuel tank, but not both simultaneously. The postaccident fire destroyed the left wing and part of the right wing root; no fuel was found in the tank system. Cessna pilot safety and warning supplements were recovered from the wreckage. According to the information, if the fuel tank outlet is uncovered, by fuel, fuel flow to the engine may be interrupted and a temporary loss of power might result. A note in the pilot information manual for the fuel system states that "unusable fuel is at a minimum due to the design of the fuel system. However, when the fuel tanks are 1/4 full or less, prolonged uncoordinated flight such as slips or skids can uncover the fuel tank outlets, causing fuel starvation and engine stoppage. Therefore, with low fuel reserves, do not allow the airplane to remain in uncoordinated flight for periods in excess of one minute."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to operate the airplane according to the flight manual, resulting in fuel starvation and loss of engine power during a critical phase of flight. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing and the presence of utility lines at the forced landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/9/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1116 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | PHOENIX |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85027 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 1116 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DVT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1476 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11583 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 9 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N888MM |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | P210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | P210N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P21000536 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4000 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 29 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4074 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MINGUS MOUNTAIN ESTATE, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5336 W. ROSE GARDEN LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | GLENDALE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85308 |
| 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 | OLS |
| Departure City | NOGALES |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DVT |
| Destination City | Phoenix |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 11 2002 1:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |