Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Walker Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
Saturday, July 31, 2004 18:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a local flight of approximately 2 hours, which included 3 taxi-back landings, the pilot requested a fourth departure. The pilot stated that, prior to the third landing, the right main fuel tank gauge was "indicating 1/3 full, at the top of the yellow arc," and prior to his fourth departure, the left main fuel gauge was indicating, "a little over 1/3 full, above the yellow arc." During the departure from runway 22, at approximately 500 feet agl, the engine lost all power. The pilot completed a turn and attempted to land on runway 4. Unable to make the runway, the pilot was forced to land in a field. The airplane impacted the terrain approximately 100 feet left of the runway centerline, and came to a stop adjacent to the runway threshold. The impact with the terrain collapsed the landing gear, buckled the airplane's right forward keel beam and separated the step from the fuselage. The pilot stated that the total fuel on board at the last take-off was 26 gallons. The Beechcraft Bonanza Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) states: "do not take off when Fuel Quantity Gauges indicate in the Yellow Band or with less then 13 gallons in each main tank."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper planning and decision making resulting in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing factors include the insufficient time to completely extend the landing gear, and the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grand Junction |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81506 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Walker Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GJT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4858 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1820 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| 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) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| 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) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 8308 |
| 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) | 16706 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1756 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2004 9:35AM |
| 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 | N222S |
| NTSB Number | DEN04LA118 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | V35A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D9008 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 34004 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 12 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 3604.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Nelson Engineering and Construction Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 321 S Redlands Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grand Junction |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81503 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GJT |
| Departure City | Grand Junction |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1810 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GJT |
| Destination City | Grand Junction |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 8 2004 3:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| 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 | -- |