Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ernest A. Love Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prescott, Arizona 86301
Saturday, December 1, 2001 19:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After flying for 2 hours the airplane arrived at the destination airport. Upon entering the traffic pattern the left seated pilot performed a prelanding check. However, he did not reposition the fuel tank selector from the nearly empty right auxiliary fuel tank to a main tank. Seconds after turning onto the final approach leg, the pilot performed another prelanding check. Again, he did not reposition the fuel tank selector away from the right auxiliary tank. Seconds thereafter, the engine sputtered and lost all power. The pilot then tried to reposition the fuel tank selector, but the pilot-rated passenger had already accomplished that task. Engine power was restored just prior to the airplane impacting a berm, about 500 feet short of the runway. The left seated pilot held commercial and certified flight instructor certificates. He had about 612 total flight hours including 32 hours in Comanches. The right seated pilot-rated passenger also held commercial and certified flight instructor certificates. He had about 1,740 total flight hours, including 40 hours in Comanches. The subsequent airplane examination revealed that the left auxiliary fuel tank and the two main tanks jointly contained a total of 50 gallons of fuel. The right auxiliary fuel tank was dry.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel starvation on final approach due to the pilot's fuel mismanagement, and his inattentiveness in following established prelanding procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/1/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Prescott |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86301 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343916N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1122511W |
| Event Location Airport | Ernest A. Love Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PRC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 30 |
| Airport Elevation | 5045 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5045 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12422 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 1 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1855 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2002 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7213P |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA036 |
| 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-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-2383 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert E. Albee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Los Angeles |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91306 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Matthew T. Jones |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Santa Ana |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92704 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | WHP |
| Departure City | LOS ANGELES |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PRC |
| Destination City | Prescott |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2002 5:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21R |
| Runway Length | 4846 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |