Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flagstaff, Arizona 86004
Saturday, April 14, 2001 12:24 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a forced landing precipitated by a loss of engine power during cruise flight, the pilot made an off-airport landing and all three landing gear sheared off. The pilot selected the right tip fuel tank for the portion of the flight from Cedar City, Utah, to Page, Arizona. He then switched to the left tip fuel tank. The engine lost power approximately 20 to 30 minutes after switching fuel tanks. After the power loss, the pilot did not switch fuel tanks because he believed there was "ample fuel in left tip." The pilot initially decided to land on a major highway, but as he approached, traffic necessitated an off-road landing on rough and uneven terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during cruise flight for undetermined reasons that resulted in a forced landing in rough terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1224 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | FLAGSTAFF |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86004 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7011 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| 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) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11079 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1456 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 28 2001 7:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8731W |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA147 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-10266 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Nov 24 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4308 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MATT HOLLOWAY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PEORIA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85381 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | James Markel |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Peoria |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85385 |
| 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 | CDC |
| Departure City | CEDAR CITY |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DVT |
| Destination City | DEER VALLEY |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 3 2001 2:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |