Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carefree, Arizona 85377
Saturday, January 17, 2004 11:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airline transport pilot reported that the airplane's engine lost power during cruise, and the airplane collided with rocks during the emergency landing on a beach. At the accident site, the right fuel tank was discovered to be empty, and the fuel selector positioned to the right tank. Recovery personnel operating under the supervision of FAA personnel, successfully ran the engine up to 2,300 rpm at a follow-up examination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate fuel management by his failure to switch the fuel tank selector position, which resulted in fuel starvation, a loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/17/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Carefree
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85377
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 340000N
Event Location Longitude 1114300W
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID KSDL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1510
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.97
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17002
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jan 17 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
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 N8718D
NTSB Number LAX04LA109
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 22-160
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 22-5899
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 Apr 1 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 335
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Richard Migas
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Fountain Hills
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85268
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 PAN
Departure City Payson
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1130
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FFZ
Destination City Falcon Field
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 12:48PM
User who most recently changed record LABJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --