Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Severance, Colorado 80546
Sunday, March 5, 2006 14:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane's main 23-gallon fuel tank was serviced to capacity. The pilot flew one passenger for about 30 minutes, returned to the airport, dropped off the passenger, boarded a second passenger, and took off again. They had been flying for about the same period of time when the engine suddenly began to run rough, then lost power. He made a forced landing in an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane nosed over, crushing the vertical stabilizer and breaking a rib in the upper left wing. The digital fuel flow gauge indicated 15.5 gallons of fuel had been consumed, and 7.5 gallons remained. Some fuel was leaking from the tank. The pilot said it looked and smelled like kerosene. The fixed base operator (FBO) was notified and fuel that had been sumped that day from the fuel trucks and fuel farm were quarantined. The salvage crew that recovered the airplane said it appeared the fuel may have mixed with smoke oil, giving the appearance and smell of kerosene. The airplane was equipped with a smoke-generating system. Neither the fuel nor smoke oil tanks had been compromised. All supply lines were intact and securely fastened. Less than a quart of fuel was recovered from the fuel tank. Thirteen jars of fuel that had been sumped from the FBO's fuel trucks and from the fuel farm were retrieved and examined. They were all clear, blue (similar to 100-LL), and appeared to be free of contaminants. According to the manufacturer, the engine will burn 17.4 gallons per hour (gph) at 75 percent power which is 195 horsepower (hp) or 2,450 revolutions per minute (rpm), when leaned for best power. At full (100 percent) power, or 260 hp and 2,700 rpm, the engine will burn 21.5 gph. The pilot subsequently submitted a statement, indicating he had "run out of gas."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fuel exhaustion and the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane. Contributing factors were the inaccurate fuel flow reading and the pilot's incorrect fuel consumption calculations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/5/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Severance |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80546 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| 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 | 1415 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FNL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5016 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| 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) | 30.15 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20043 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 5 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N221RS |
| NTSB Number | DEN06LA046 |
| 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 | Aviat |
| Aircraft Model | Pitts S-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5318 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1625 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 810 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mark W. Stewart |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Collins |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80525 |
| 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 | FNL |
| Departure City | Fort Collins |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FNL |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2006 1:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |