Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vernal, Utah 84078
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 15:40 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot took off for his destination airport after waiting 2 hours at an intermediate stop due to weather. Approaching Vernal, Utah, the pilot said he encountered weather again. He deviated south and then back north trying to locate a path around the weather. He said he burned an hour's worth of fuel during the deviation. The pilot said he looked at his fuel and determined that he would need to land and get gas. The pilot said there was a layer of fog over the valley and over Vernal Airport. The pilot deviated first to Shane, Utah, then went to Roosevelt, Utah, and then back northeast toward Vernal. At that time he noted he had 7 gallons of fuel remaining. As the pilot was preparing to land at Vernal, the airplane ran out of gas on one tank. Approximately 4 miles southwest of the Vernal Airport, the pilot said he ran out of gas on the other tank. The pilot said he came out of the clouds 400 feet above a highway. He said there was mountainous terrain all around him. The pilot said he saw a plateau ahead. He said he pulled the airplane up and put it down on the plateau, breaking the landing gear aft and crushing the firewall and bottom fuselage upward and aft. An examination of the airplane revealed there was no fuel in either fuel tank. An examination of the engine and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision. Factors contributing to the accident were fuel exhaustion and the fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/27/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1540 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Vernal |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84078 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 402127N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1093714W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VEL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5274 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 900 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.39 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3826 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13328 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 27 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1718 |
| 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, Utah FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9020J |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA021 |
| 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-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-3048 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 17 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 8096 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert L. Gates |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 200 Raquette Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Collins |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80524 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kevin Lebaron |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2811 Wildrose Way |
| Operator City | Fort Collins |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80526 |
| 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 | LAR |
| Departure City | Laramie |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PVU |
| Destination City | Provo |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 2:50PM |
| 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 | -- |