Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. George Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. George, Utah 84770
Monday, September 24, 2001 16:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had recently been repainted and was being ferried to another airport for complete refurbishing. The interior, including avionics and most of the instruments, had been removed. Prior to departure, the ATP-rated pilot drained both inboard wing tanks and drained no fuel. He requested that 15 gallons of fuel be added to each side. The fuel was put in the inboard (auxiliary) fuel tanks, which have a fuel capacity of 15 gallons each. No fuel was added to the outboard (main) fuel tanks, which have a fuel capacity of 40 gallons each. Departure and the 20 minute en route flight were without reported incident. Witnesses said the pilot had to abandon his initial landing approach to runway 34 due to conflicting traffic. The pilot then turned downwind for runway 6, but the airplane descended below airport elevation (the airport is situated on top of a mesa). Various witness accounts indicated one or both engines lost power. The airplane struck powerlines and impacted a downtown street. Fuel selector valve handles were not found in the wreckage. Upon opening both wings, the left and right fuel selector valves were found slightly misaligned from being centered on the left and right main tanks, respectively. The fuel tanks were then drained. Each auxiliary (inboard) tank contained 15 gallons of fuel. Approximately 3 ounces of fuel were drained from the left main (outboard) tank. No fuel drained from the right main tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
total loss of engine power on both engines due to fuel starvation and the pilot's inability to access the available fuel supply. Contributing factors were the pilot's inadequate supervision of the refueling operation, and his intentional operation of the airplane with known deficiencies in equipment (no fuel selector valve handles or placards installed).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/24/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | St. George |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84770 |
| 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 | St. George Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SGU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 70 |
| Airport Elevation | 2941 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1615 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2941 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5957 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12043 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 24 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1650 |
| 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, Utah |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N337PM |
| NTSB Number | DEN01FA162 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 337B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 337-0565 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4300 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 24 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 145 |
| Airframe Hours | 1761 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard B. Lowe |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1040 Anderson Ave. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Coos Bay |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97420 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aero West Jet Center |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 475 Donlee |
| Operator City | St. George |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84770 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 67L |
| Departure City | Mesquite |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1555 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SGU |
| Destination City | St. George |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2002 4:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 6606 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |