Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Englewood, Colorado 80112
Saturday, May 8, 2004 9:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had been cleared to land and was following slower traffic. He reduced airspeed and made a constant left turn. When he rolled out on final approach, he opened the throttle to arrest the descent rate. The engine did not respond although it was still running. He relaxed back pressure on the control yoke to maintain airspeed and banked slightly to land on a steep incline short of the runway. The descent rate increased and the airplane impacted the incline. Postaccident examination revealed the main landing gear was torn out of the fuselage, the firewall was buckled, and the forward portion of the fuselage aft of the firewall was wrinkled. One year earlier, a fuel management system was installed in the airplane. The system digitally indicates, by the toggling of a switch, total fuel on board, consumption rate, endurance, and fuel remaining. The pilot said that prior to taking off for the 8-mile flight, he checked the fuel quantity and it indicated 10.1 gallons. After the accident, he again checked the fuel quantity and it indicated 8.0 gallons. If properly installed and calibrated correctly, the system will indicated no more than a plus or minus 1.0 gallon error. The recovery crew drained one gallon from all the fuel tanks. The pilot said that several months before the accident, the bracket that secured the throttle cable to the firewall broke. Maintenance records contained no entry of a repair being made. Although the engine had been pushed aft and buckled the firewall, cockpit movement of the throttle produced cable movement at the throttle valve.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight planning which failed to verify an adequate fuel supply and his inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion. The inadequate indication of his fuel quantity system is a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/8/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 915 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Englewood |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80112 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393412N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1045057W |
| Event Location Airport | Centennial Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KAPA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 350 |
| Airport Elevation | 5883 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 923 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | APA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5883 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7912 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16497 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 8 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 944 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N185K |
| NTSB Number | DEN04LA071 |
| 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 | A185E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18501887 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| 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 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 119 |
| Airframe Hours | 4017 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | On File |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Highlands Ranch |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80126 |
| 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 | 1CO8 |
| Departure City | Parker |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | APA |
| Destination City | Englewood |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2004 11:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17L |
| Runway Length | 10002 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |