Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seligman, Arizona 86434
Saturday, May 14, 2005 12:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The left engine lost power during cruise, and the pilot made a forced landing in an open field with rough uneven terrain. About 45 minutes into the flight, the left engine started to sputter. The pilot attempted to restart the engine. When the engine did not restart, he secured it and then flew towards an alternate airport. Prior to reaching the airport, he attempted to lower the landing gear by placing the landing gear handle in the DOWN position. The landing gear did not extend, so he tried to lower the landing gear via the primary emergency landing gear system (hand pump). When that did not work, he activated the secondary emergency extension system (CO2 blow down tank) by pulling the emergency gear extension ring. The CO2 tank discharged; however, only the right main landing gear extended. The pilot said that with the drag from the partially extended gear they were not going to make the airport, and he made a forced landing in a rough open field. The pilot reported that he believed he had 30 gallons of fuel in each fuel tank. Recovery personnel indicated that the fuel cells had not been breached during the accident, the fuel lines were intact, and they did not see any fuel on the ground surrounding the airplane. They recovered 15 gallons of fuel from right outboard fuel tank, and 15 gallons of fuel from the right inboard fuel tank. Thirty gallons of fuel were drained from the left wing outboard fuel tank. No fuel was found in the left wing inboard fuel tank. The manufacturer's owner's manual for the airplane indicates that if the left engine fails the hydraulic pump will not function (the single system pump is on the left engine), and the emergency landing gear extension system has to be used. The pilot also has to place the landing gear lever in the DOWN position, fully extend the hand pump handle, and then pump the emergency gear handle up and down 30-40 strokes in order to get the landing gear to lower. The pilot can also utilize the CO2 tank for emergency landing gear extension; however, the landing gear selector has to be in the DOWN position for the gas to be correctly ported to the down side of the hydraulic actuators. The airframe, left engine, and landing gear were inspected. The fuel injector manifold was removed and disassembled, with no fuel observed. No fuel was found in the fuel lines from the left wing to the left engine. No discrepancies were found with the left engine's internal mechanical continuity. Investigators noted that the emergency gear handle was pulled out about 2 inches and not fully extended, and the emergency gear extender ring for the CO2 system appeared to be pulled out. The hydraulic system lines were intact. Clean hydraulic fluid was found in the power pack and the hydraulic system filter was clean.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's fuel system mismanagement that led to a fuel starvation induced loss of power in the left engine. Also causal was the pilot's improper use of the emergency landing gear extension system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/14/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Seligman |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86434 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352010N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1125323W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5045 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 47 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19753 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 14 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| 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 | N30YC |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA168 |
| 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-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-2526 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 11531.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dillon Shepley |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greeley |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80634 |
| 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 | T03 |
| Departure City | Tuba City |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HII |
| Destination City | Lake Havasu |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 27 2006 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |