Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Carson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carson City, Nevada 89706
Saturday, September 1, 2001 19:53 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the airplane returned to the airport after a local flight at twilight, the pilot completed the landing checklist as the airplane approached the 45-degree leg. The pilot intended to move the fuel selector handle from the right tip tank position, across two intermediate tank positions, to the left tip tank position. The next position further to the left is the "off" position, which is guarded by a spring-loaded mechanical stop. In the wreckage the mechanical stop was found attached to a plastic cover over the fuel selector; however, the cover was broken from the selector handle assembly. Because of turbulent flight conditions, the pilot entered the downwind leg at the uncontrolled airport about 1,000 feet high and descended on extended downwind leg at near idle power. When he advanced the throttle to arrest the airplane's descent on extended base leg, there was no response from the engine. The fuel pressure read "zero." He attempted to restart the engine and switched the fuel selector to another tank position; however, insufficient altitude remained to afford sufficient time to restart the engine. The aircraft impacted a tree and crashed in the back yard of a residence, striking an occupant of the residence who was in the yard. The morning after the accident there was no fuel in the fuel lines forward of the firewall; however, the aircraft had been inverted overnight. About 2.5 ounces of fuel was found in the carburetor float bowl. When the fuel selector handle was positioned between tanks, the investigation showed each of the adjacent ports was about 10-percent open. Examination of the airplane revealed the annual inspection was 1-month overdue; however, it did not reveal any evidence of preimpact mechanical failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's incorrect setting of the fuel selector valve during the prelanding checklist to a position between usable tanks, resulting in fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1953 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Carson City |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89706 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Carson |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CXP |
| 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 | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 4697 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1956 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4412 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11603 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2005 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | RENO, NEVADA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9199W |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA299 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-10860 |
| 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 | Jul 13 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3097 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kevin V. Jensen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carson City |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89701 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CXP |
| Departure City | Carson City |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 2 2002 5:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5900 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |