Boulder Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boulder, Colorado 80302
Saturday, July 16, 1988 19:06 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

ACCORDING TO THE PLT, HE WAS RETURNING TO BOULDER AFTER MAKING A FLT TO ASPEN. HE SAID HE STARTED THE MORNING FLT WITH 2/3 FUEL LOAD (ABOUT 40 GALLONS) BUT DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH FLT TIME HE ACCUMULATED DURING THE DAY. DURING HIS VFR APPROACH TO THE BOULDER AIRPORT HE HAD A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. HE NOTICED THE LEFT FUEL TANK INDICATED EMPTY, AND SWITCHED FUEL TANKS, BUT THE ENGINE QUIT. HE STATED THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE AND WAS FORCED TO PUT THE ACFT DOWN IN AN OPEN FIELD WHERE IT RAN INTO A DITCH. EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE RIGHT FUEL TANK HAD FUEL IN IT AND THE LEFT TANK WAS EMPTY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/16/1988
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1906
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City BOULDER
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80302
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BOULDER MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IV5
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 0
Airport Elevation 5288
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 1915
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
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 Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 17
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 7200
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
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 --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious 3
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1224
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 16 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 37317
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 11:56AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2815A
NTSB Number DEN88LA160
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 180
Aircraft Series Identifier 180
Aircraft Serial Number 30015
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 Feb 16 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 76
Airframe Hours 6045
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HAAS, RUSSELL W.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 13225 WEST 15TH DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City GOLDEN
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80401
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 ASE
Departure City ASPEN
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 1V5
Destination City BOULDER
Destination State CO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
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 8
Runway Length 4100
Runway Width 70
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --