Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tucumcari, New Mexico 88401
Wednesday, June 26, 2002 11:27 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during his cockpit preflight checks, he neglected to place the fuel selector switch on "both." The pilot said that after approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes, he began a descent for landing and "pulled the prop RPM back slightly." The pilot said, "The instant I reduced the RPM the engine began to surge ..." The pilot said he became fixated on the propeller governor as the problem. "When I returned to cruise RPM, it smoothed out for a moment and then began surging again and then stopped producing power." The pilot said he was about 5 miles from the airport. He stated that he immediately picked out a dirt road to land on. The pilot said, "Again, I failed to use the checklist." The pilot said that he was clear of all fences and obstacles when he touched the airplane down on the road, but during rollout the left wing struck a small tree, which caused the airplane to swerve and subsequently impact into a ditch. The pilot reported the fuel selector was positioned to the right tank. An examination of the airplane showed fuel in the left tank, and no fuel in the right tank. At the accident site, the fuel selector was observed in the "both" position. An examination of the engine, engine controls, and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to position the fuel selector to the proper tank resulting in fuel starvation and the subsequent loss of engine power. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilot's failure to use the checklist and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/26/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1127 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tucumcari |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88401 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TCC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4064 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7136 |
| 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) | 12302 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 27 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 20 2002 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque, MN FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2443C |
| NTSB Number | DEN02LA061 |
| 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 | 180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30743 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 16 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 26 |
| Airframe Hours | 4008 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert C. Petersen |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2977 Boeing Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cameron Park |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95682 |
| 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 | 7M5 |
| Departure City | Ozark |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TCC |
| Destination City | Tucumcari |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2002 1:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |