Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Not Applicable Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gresham, Oregon 97030
Wednesday, March 21, 2001 13:29 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed Tracy, California, on a nonstop delivery flight to the new owner of the recently sold 1959 Mooney M20A. Approximately three hours and 19 minutes later (more than 470 nautical miles of flight), descending toward his destination of Troutdale, Oregon, the engine stopped. The pilot executed an emergency landing to a golf course approximately 2.5 nautical miles south of his destination airport and the aircraft impacted trees during the forced landing to a golf course. The pilot fueled before departing and believed both wing tanks were full (17.5 gallon capacity each) and that the "...auxiliary tank sounded full...." A police officer from the Gresham Police Department interviewed the pilot immediately following the accident and reported to an FAA inspector that the pilot stated that he "...couldn't understand how he could have run out of gas but when the engine quit he switched tanks and tried everything he could but the engine wouldn't start. All his fuel gauges read empty...." The FAA inspector found six ounces of fuel in each wing tank and less than one gallon in the auxiliary tank (14 gallon capacity).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate decision in which he failed to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1329 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Gresham |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97030 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Not Applicable |
| 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 | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1343 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TTD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 39 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13854 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 21 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1420 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Hillsboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8346E |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA066 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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 | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1524 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Martin Specialties, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1800 East Sahara, Suite 107 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89104 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Martin, Glenn H. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 664 Chemeketa |
| Operator City | San Jose |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95123 |
| 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 | TCY |
| Departure City | Tracy |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1010 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TTD |
| Destination City | Troutdale |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2001 6:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |