Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Loa, Utah 84747
Monday, October 14, 2002 8:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that the engine "just quit," and he suspected it was fuel related. He said he had moved his seat aft to retrieve something off the back seat. A recovery crew noted that the fuel shut-off valve, located under the pilot's seat, was between the "right" and "off" positions. The right wing tank was empty, as it had been ripped open by a rock, and approximately 10 to 11 gallons of fuel was drained out of the unbreached left wing tank. The pilot said he had recently purchased the airplane and had logged 21 hours of flight time, 19 of which he had logged in the 90 days prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadvertent placement of the fuel selector position in the off position. A contributing factor was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the aircraft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/14/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 800
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Loa
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84747
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 383905N
Event Location Longitude 1113906W
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 20
Degrees magnetic from airport 330
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 185
Weather Observation Facility ID KBCE
Elevation of weather observation facility 7586
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 61
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) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.33
Density Altitude (feet) 11631
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13322
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Oct 14 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City Flight Standards District Office

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N74530
NTSB Number DEN03LA006
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 Mooney
Aircraft Model M20B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1841
Certified Max Gross Weight 2450
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection Aug 22 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 33
Airframe Hours 3180
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard J. Holmes
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1041 East Hillside Circle
Aircraft Owner City Provo
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84604
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code 38U
Departure City Loa
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 745
Departure Time Zone TO
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PVU
Destination City Provo
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 2:48PM
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 --