Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Soldotna Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Saturday, May 5, 2001 12:55 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The day before the accident, the private certificated pilot with one passenger, departed on a cross-country flight, but encountered poor weather conditions along the route. The pilot elected to land on a roadway and spent the night at a lodge. The following day, the pilot departed from the road without adding fuel, and headed for his destination. As the flight approached the destination airport, the airplane was cruising about 1,500 feet. About 4 miles from the airport, the engine lost power, and the pilot headed for an ultralight landing strip, located adjacent to the main destination runway. The runway surface was occupied by vehicles and pedestrians and the pilot began a turn to the left. About 20 feet above the ground, the airplane stalled and descended to the ground in a nose down attitude. The fuel selector was found on the left tank. The left fuel tank did not contain any fuel. The right fuel tank contained a small amount of fuel. The pilot said he always leaves the fuel tank selector on "BOTH" but the selector must have inadvertently been moved during the flight. During the emergency, the pilot said he did not check the position of the fuel selector.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane, and subsequent fuel exhaustion. A factor in the accident was an inadvertent stall during an emergency descent/landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1255 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | SOLDOTNA |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99669 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 602834N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1510157W |
| Event Location Airport | SOLDOTNA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PASX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 108 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1315 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PASX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 108 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11396 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 5 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1353 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2002 1:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | AL-ANC-FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5530T |
| NTSB Number | ANC01LA054 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251430 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Apr 11 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 4751 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES B. BORDEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1919 LATHROP ST., SUITE 204 |
| Aircraft Owner City | FAIRBANKS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99708 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | CANTWELL |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PASX |
| Destination City | SOLDOTNA |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 18 2002 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 7U |
| Runway Length | 1500 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |