Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grand Junction Walker Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
Saturday, July 30, 2005 12:24 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot contacted the Air Traffic Control tower at 1201:02, and subsequently was cleared for touch-and-go landings. Over the next 23 minutes, the pilot performed 4 traffic patterns and touch-and-go landings. The pilot had just finished the fourth touch-and-go and was on the departure leg when he reported that the airplane's engine had lost power. A tower controller saw the airplane descend off the end of the runway from approximately 150 feet above the ground. The controller saw the airplane touchdown briefly, rise back into the air, then descend again, disappearing behind a ridge. An examination of the airplane showed the right wing fuel tank intact and void of fuel. The left wing fuel tank was broken open and showed evidence of fuel. An examination of the airplane's engine showed trace evidence of fuel in the distribution manifold. The fuel selector was removed and examined. The selector valve was positioned to the right fuel tank feed position. No other systems anomalies were found with the airplane that could have contributed to the accident. Fuel records showed the airplane was serviced with 29.1 gallons of "AVGAS" on May 29, 2005.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the improper fuel selector position. Factors contributing to the accident were the inadvertent stall, the ravine, and the steep drop off embankment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1224 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grand Junction |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81506 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300721N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1083136W |
| Event Location Airport | Grand Junction Walker Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GJT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4858 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1233 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19155 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2006 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, UT FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8870R |
| NTSB Number | DEN05LA117 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 14-19-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4232 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 1088.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard L. Keller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2181 Dinosaur Court |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GJT |
| Departure City | Grand Junction |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 16 2005 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 10501 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |