Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merrill Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anchorage, Alaska 99513
Thursday, July 31, 2003 20:13 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot was conducting an on-demand passenger flight with three passengers aboard. As the airplane approached the destination airport, about 800 feet agl over a city, the engine began to run rough and lose power. In an attempt to restore engine power, the pilot confirmed that the fuel selector valve was placed to the right fuel tank, and momentarily placed the auxiliary fuel boost pump in the high boost position. Engine power was momentarily restored, followed by a complete loss of power. The pilot selected a forced landing area adjacent to several baseball fields. During the forced landing approach, the airplane passed over four occupied baseball fields. During touchdown, the airplane's left wing collided with a chain link fence, the airplane veered to the left, collided with a concrete embankment, and cart wheeled to the left. During an on scene interview the pilot reported that he routinely flew the accident route using only the right fuel tank. He said that fuel stored in the left fuel tank was considered a reserve tank. Another pilot had flown the accident airplane prior to the accident flight, and usually, when an airplane returned to the operator's base, line service personnel would routinely fill the right fuel tank, to be ready for the next flight. Prior to departing on the outbound leg of the flight, the pilot said that he did not visually check the fuel quantity in the right wing fuel tank, and that the entire round trip flight was flown with the fuel selector valve selected to the right fuel tank. When asked if he attempted to switch the fuel selector valve from the right fuel tank to the left tank, the accident pilot responded "no." During wreckage recovery efforts, and in the presence of the NTSB IIC, about 0.8 gallons of fuel was drained from the right wing-mounted fuel tank, and associated fuel lines. About 30 gallons of fuel were drained from the left wing-mounted fuel tank. The tanks were not damaged during the accident and did not leak.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's incorrect positioning of the fuel tank selector valve to a nearly empty tank, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation, and subsequent emergency landing at an off-airport site. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, and his inadequate remedial action.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2013 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Anchorage |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99513 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 611200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1495000W |
| Event Location Airport | Merrill Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAMR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 73 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2050 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAMR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 73 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15045 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANC FAA, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2015 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Anchorage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N29CF |
| NTSB Number | ANC03LA085 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 207 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20700353 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 15 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SPERNAK AIRWAYS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O.Box 102255 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorage |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99510 |
| 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 | ERGA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PABG |
| Departure City | Beluga |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1945 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAMR |
| Destination City | Anchorage |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2004 1:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |