Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cortez Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cortez, Colorado 81321
Saturday, June 29, 2002 10:13 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot took off at 0638, drawing fuel from the left main tank. At 0739, he switched to the right main tank. At 0840, he switched to the auxiliary fuel tank. As he approached his destination, the pilot noted that the main fuel tanks were half full and the auxiliary fuel tank was over half full. He reduced power and began a slow descent. As he approached the traffic pattern, he switched back to the left main fuel tank. On approach, he lowered the landing gear and as he started to lower the flaps, he noticed the airspeed had decreased so he added power. The airplane "started to wobble and became hard to handle," so the pilot applied full power. The airspeed "was not responding very quickly." He confirmed the fuel selector was on the left tank and the fuel boost pump was on. After clearing a rock wall cliff and ravine, the pilot flew underneath power lines and the airplane struck the ground. Flow testing of the carburetor at 10 pounds psi revealed an external leak at the idle diaphragm. Further tests indicated the carburetor would run rich at low power settings and lean at high power settings. The fuel pump was able to maintain 20 gph at 10 psi and 500 rpm. At 1,000 rpm, a leak was noted at the lower splitline surface. At 2,500 rpm, the fuel pump maintained 160 gph at 12 psi.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an inadvertent stall as the pilot attempted to clear a cliff and ravine and avoid power lines, resulting in a collision with the ground. Contributing factors were a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, a leaking carburetor and fuel pump, and the cliff, ravine, and power lines.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/29/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1013 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cortez |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81321 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371810N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1083741W |
| Event Location Airport | Cortez Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CEZ |
| 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 | 210 |
| Airport Elevation | 5914 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CEZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5914 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8128 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12599 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 29 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1135 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| 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 | N404B |
| NTSB Number | DEN02LA064 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-1409 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Dec 14 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 5555 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kim W. Hutsell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tucson |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85732 |
| 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 | RYN |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 638 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CEZ |
| Destination City | Cortez |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2002 12:38PM |
| 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 | -- |