Parowan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Parowan, Utah 84761
Thursday, February 12, 2004 23:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he topped-off the airplane with fuel, and departed to the west on a long cross-country flight. After flying for several hours, he saw the "glow of [city] lights" and thought it was his destination. He attempted to contact the airport by radio, but did not receive a response. He stated that, at that time, he was unable to pick up the VOR. At that point he realized that he must have drifted north and off of his intended heading. He said he adjusted his heading to the southwest, and climbed to a higher altitude. Shortly thereafter, he located his destination, and through radio contact, turned on the runway lights. As he flew over the airport, the airplane's engine began to lose power and then it "cut out." He circled around the airport as he descended and set up for a forced landing on runway 22. On the final approach, he realized that he wasn't going to make the runway. He said that he "increased the [airplane's] angle of attack," but the airplane fell short of the runway. The airplane's right wing struck a fence post and the airplane impacted the terrain approximately 50 yards short of the runway threshold. The airplane's right wing spar was bent outboard of the wing strut, and the nose landing gear was separated from the gear fork. An on-site examination of the airplane revealed that both wing fuel tanks were empty.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's in-flight decision/planning which resulted in fuel exhaustion. The fence and night conditions were contributing factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/12/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2300
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Parowan
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84761
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Parowan Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1L9
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 40
Airport Elevation 5930
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2253 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 235
Weather Observation Facility ID KCDC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5626
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night
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) -13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.28
Density Altitude (feet) 3295
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) 16256
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Feb 13 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 539
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9892J
NTSB Number DEN04LA045
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17273952
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Jan 20 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 61.6
Airframe Hours 7206
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Pro Air Aviation LLC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1207 W 800 S
Aircraft Owner City Cedar City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84720
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 AEG
Departure City Albuquerque
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CDC
Destination City Cedar City
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Descent - emergency
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 6 2004 1:11PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 220
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --