Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Felts Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eagle Point, Oregon 97542
Friday, August 3, 2007 14:17 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain during a forced landing in an open field. The pilot visually confirmed both fuel tanks were full prior to takeoff by looking into the tank and observing fuel at the filler neck level. During cruise the pilot adjusted the fuel/air mixture using the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) gauge as a reference. Every 30 minutes during the flight, the pilot switched fuel tanks in order to attain an even fuel burn. About 3 hours 40 minutes into the flight the engine lost all power. The pilot switched fuel tanks, and the power was restored. Concerned that the other tank may also have been low on fuel, he elected to divert to an airport in the immediate vicinity. He flew an additional 10 minutes and the engine again lost all power. The pilot made an emergency landing in an open field and the airplane sustained substantial damage. A local law enforcement officer, who responded to the accident site, visually verified that there was no fuel in either fuel tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate fuel consumption calculations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1417 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Eagle Point |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97542 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422808N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1224309W |
| Event Location Airport | FELTS FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MFR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1335 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MFR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1335 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| 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) | 29.98 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22397 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N919CA |
| NTSB Number | LAX07CA232 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-4625 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3277 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John Young |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Priest River |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83856 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Terry R Ervin |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Spokane |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99208 |
| 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 | SFF |
| Departure City | Felts Field |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MFR |
| Destination City | Rogue Valley |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2007 3:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |