Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
William R. Fairchild Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Port Angeles, Washington 98363
Sunday, September 5, 2004 16:28 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he finger inspected both fuel tanks prior to takeoff. The pilot-rated observer noticed that while taxiing for takeoff the left fuel gauge read somewhere near 1/2, while the right gauge read near full. Approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes into the flight the pilot and pilot-rated observer became concerned with the aircraft's fuel state and elected to proceed to a nearby airport to refuel. Approximately 15 minutes later the right fuel tank ran dry and the engine quit. After switching to the left tank the pilot was successful in restarting the engine. Approximately 5 minutes later the left fuel tank ran dry and the engine quit a second time, prompting the pilot to make a landing in a hay field about 5 miles west of the destination airport. The pilot landed long, and in an attempt to avoid a fence veered 90 degrees to the left before impacting a ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. The airplane had accumulated 4.3 hours of flying time since its most recent refueling with both tanks being filled to capacity. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical problems with the airplane. Post-accident inspection of the fuel tanks revealed that no fuel was present in either the right or left fuel tanks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate inflight decision by failing to refuel while en route, resulting in fuel exhaustion and the loss of power. Factors contributing to the accident included the fence and the ditch.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/5/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1628 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Port Angeles |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98363 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 480720N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1233736W |
| Event Location Airport | William R. Fairchild Intl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CLM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 291 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 291 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17488 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 5 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1932 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5788T |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA182 |
| 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 | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251688 |
| 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 | Jun 13 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 5530.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David D. Brophy |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Silverdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98383 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert F. Losey |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Silverdale |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98383 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S42 |
| Departure City | Silverdale |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1358 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CLM |
| Destination City | Port Angeles |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |