Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cedar City, Utah 84720
Friday, May 23, 2003 15:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was en route to attend his grandson's graduation. The pilot made an en route stop and the airplane was refueled to capacity. Forty-five minutes after departure, the pilot encountered "light to moderate turbulence with strong updrafts." He moved his flight bag, which had been on the right front seat, and placed it on the cabin floor behind his seat. He did not realize that the bag's shoulder strap had slid between the seats and was wrapped around the fuel selector handle. When he moved the bag, he inadvertently moved the selector handle from BOTH to the RIGHT tank position. With his destination in sight, the pilot initiated a slow descent. Approximately 3 to 4 miles north of the airport, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to move the fuel selector to another tank, but the shoulder pad was securely wedged under the handle. Unable to extend the glide because of low altitude, he notified the airport of his intentions and made a forced landing on a dirt road. As the airplane came over a slight rise in the road that dropped off abruptly, it became airborne again. A left crosswind caused the airplane to drift off the right side of the road and it struck a cedar tree.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadvertently switching the fuel selector to the right tank, resulting in fuel starvation, and his failure to maintain direction control during the forced landing. Contributing factors were the crosswind and the tree.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1510 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cedar City |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84720 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1521 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14578 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 23 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1635 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, UT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8199T |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 175B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17556899 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | May 22 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 1340 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James L. Jones |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tigard |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97223 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | WMC |
| Departure City | Winnemucca |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CDC |
| Destination City | Cedar City |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2003 3:18PM |
| 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 | -- |