Jean Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jean, Nevada 89019
Tuesady, October 7, 2003 13:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Following a loss of engine power, the airplane nosed over when the pilot executed a forced landing onto a dirt road. The pilot started a descent out of 9,500 feet mean sea level (msl) when the airplane experienced some moderate turbulence. This was followed by an uncommanded reduction of engine power towards idle. The pilot applied carburetor heat and adjusted the fuel mixture. Despite the pilot's manipulation of engine controls, power was not restored. The pilot selected what appeared to him to be a dirt road on which to force land the airplane. While landing the airplane, deep ruts in the road affected the landing and the airplane came to rest inverted. Examination of the airplane revealed that the total fuel onboard after the accident was 3 gallons. Normal unusable fuel for each tank is 1.5 gallons. However, if the aircraft is not in a level flight attitude, an additional 3.5 gallons of fuel per tank may be unusable due to the aft placement of the fuel line ports in the fuel cells.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/7/2003
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Jean
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89019
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 354348N
Event Location Longitude 1152712W
Event Location Airport Jean
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0L7
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 7
Degrees magnetic from airport 220
Airport Elevation 2832
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1356 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID KLAS
Elevation of weather observation facility 2181
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.18
Density Altitude (feet) 5605
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17318
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 7 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 24 2005 9:13AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO-Las Vegas, NV

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3904D
NTSB Number LAX04LA005
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 182A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 34604
Certified Max Gross Weight 2650
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 Jun 9 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 33
Airframe Hours 4918
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John P. Warren
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Columbia Falls
Aircraft Owner State MT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 59912
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Laurent Lobjoit
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Lake Elsinore
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92530
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 --
Departure City Lake Elsinore
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1155
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 0L7
Destination City Jean
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Descent - normal
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record --
User who most recently changed record --
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --