Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kanab, Utah 84741
Sunday, May 27, 2001 14:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed for the cross-country flight with 10 gallons of fuel in the left tank and 17 gallons of fuel in the right tank. He leveled off and reduced to cruise power. He said he was "preparing to make switch from left to right tank....just before I could make the switch, the engine lost power." He attempted to switch tanks and restart the engine, but could not get a restart. He performed a forced landing to a dirt road. During the landing roll, the left wing struck a tree and the airplane rotated 180 degrees. The engine was torn from the mount, both wing spars were bent, and the empennage sustained substantial damage. A salvage team member noted, during the airplanes recovery, that there were approximately 10 to 15 gallons of fuel in the left tank; he said the right fuel tank was empty.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate fuel consumption planning, and the subsequent fuel starvation, which resulted in a loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/27/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Kanab
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84741
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 5
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 1656 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 260
Weather Observation Facility ID PGA
Elevation of weather observation facility 4313
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 42
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.77
Density Altitude (feet) 8450
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) 12047
NTSB Notification Source FT. COLLINS SHERIFF'S OFFICE
NTSB Notification Date May 27 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1926
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2002 9:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, UT

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6427H
NTSB Number DEN01LA102
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T207A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 20700522
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Aug 24 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 27
Airframe Hours 7485
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Riffey CO., LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 60035
Aircraft Owner City Boulder City
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89006
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Lake Mead Air, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code L41
Departure City Marble Canyon
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KNB
Destination City Kanab
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2002 4:40PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --