Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carefree, Arizona 85377
Sunday, June 29, 2003 10:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane lost engine power and made a forced landing on a road, encountered rough terrain, and nosed over. The pilot fueled the airplane with about 5 hours of fuel. After about 4 hours she contacted the tower and told them of her intention to land. Soon after, the engine failed. She switched tanks, the engine restarted, and then it quit again. She realized there must have been a fuel leak and radioed the tower to advise them of the engine failure. She attempted to land at a private airport; however, the airplane landed on a road and came to rest inverted. No fuel was discovered at the scene of the accident. A post accident inspection revealed a crack on the bottom of the elbow fitting, which was on the bottom of the gascolator. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector performed a test using soap and water. At 3 to 5 pounds of pressure, the assembly began bubbling at the crack, indicating a leak. The inspector noted blue stains along the bottom of the airplane. The inspector opined that the crack was the result of excessive torque used to tighten the fitting.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel exhaustion due to a crack on the elbow fitting to the gascolator resulted in a fuel leak.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/29/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Carefree |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85377 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334905N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1115352W |
| 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 | 1053 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SDL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1510 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4366 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16952 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 29 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3826Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA216 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21058326 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 29 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2406.39 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Romaine J. Ausman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carefree |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85377 |
| 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 | VCB |
| Departure City | Vacaville |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 615 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SDL |
| Destination City | Scottsdale |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 6:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |