Nampa Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nampa, Idaho 83687
Saturday, August 23, 2003 10:55

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the airplane passed over the last airport on its route of flight where fuel was available, the pilot determined he was doing good on time and had plenty of fuel to reach his destination. On its final approach to the destination airport, and after having run out of fuel in one tank, the pilot switched over to the other tank. As the second tank's contents became exhausted, the pilot, in an attempt to keep the engine running, switched back and forth between tanks a couple of times; however, this proved unsuccessful and the aircraft's fuel supply was now entirely exhausted. Seeing that he would not make the runway, the pilot landed in a field just short of the runway. The lower right wing was substantially damaged as a result of an upward compression deformation of the wing structure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power. A factor was the unsuitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/23/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1055
Event Time Zone --
Event City Nampa
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83687
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 433441N
Event Location Longitude 1163111W
Event Location Airport Nampa Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S67
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport 110
Airport Elevation 2537
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1055 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 290
Weather Observation Facility ID EUL
Elevation of weather observation facility 2537
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
Density Altitude (feet) 3794
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14685
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 23 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1025
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 Boise, Idaho

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N33170
NTSB Number SEA03LA177
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 28-7505129
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 8 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 59
Airframe Hours 3964
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name G & B Aircraft Management
Aircraft Owner Street Address Skypark Airport
Aircraft Owner City Woods Center
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name George E. Collard
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Bountiful
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84010
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 BTF
Departure City Bountiful
Departure State UT
Departure Country UY
Departure Time 815
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code S67
Destination City Nampa
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2003 2:36PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --