Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Victor, Colorado 80860
Saturday, August 10, 2002 20:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was fueled to capacity (25 gallons each, left and right main tanks; 17 gallons each, left and right auxiliary tanks; total, 84 gallons) prior to departure. The airplane was airborne for 4 hours, 10 minutes, when it "began to feel heavy and mushy." Two passengers were repositioned, but the airplane "continued to feel heavy with loss of altitude and stall light flashing." The engine began to "miss," and "appeared not to have power." The pilot flew towards a low spot in a bowl, hoping to get to a lower elevation. He made a forced landing in an area "that looked flat and soft." Witnesses saw the airplane bounce three times and the left wing break off as it spun to a stop. Numerous empty beer cans (about two 12 packs) were found in the airplane. The pilot said his male passenger had consumed the beer. The fuel selector was found positioned on the right main tank. The salvage company said the right tanks appeared to be empty and there was "very little" fuel in the separated left wing tanks. They drained 2 gallons of fuel from the right main tank and about 3 gallons from the right auxiliary tank. No fuel was recovered from the separated left wing's tanks. The carburetor bowl was opened and found to be dry. In addition, no fuel was found in the line between the engine-driven fuel pump and the carburetor. The magnetos were tested and functioned normally. Both the engine-driven fuel pump and auxiliary boost pumps were dry but tested satisfactorily. The pilot's toxicological report was negative for ethanol, but positive for benzodiazepines. The pilot told the hospital physician that he was taking Paxil for treatment of depression. According to an FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) toxicologist, Paxil is a benzodiazepine and is contraindicated for flying.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to refuel, resulting in fuel exhaustion and a subsequent loss of engine power. Contributing factors were the pilot's use of inappropriate medication, and the unsuitable terrain on which to make a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2040 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Victor |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80860 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384352N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050708W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2039 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCOS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6184 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 260 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8336 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12759 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 10 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2046 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N222SH |
| NTSB Number | DEN02LA090 |
| 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-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-266 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 9 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 2470 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Comtox Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Big Bear City |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92314 |
| 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 | IFP |
| Departure City | Laughlin |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | COS |
| Destination City | Colorado Sprngs |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2002 1:14PM |
| 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 | -- |