Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Desert Rock Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mercury, Nevada 89060
Monday, March 10, 2008 21:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the flight, the right fuel gauge indicated a decreasing amount of fuel while the left fuel gauge was constant. The pilot attempted to cross-feed fuel from the left tank and he set the auxiliary pumps to LOW. He saw no indication on the fuel gauge of a decrease in the left tank, and the right tank gauge continued to show a decrease in fuel. The right engine lost power; he secured the engine and feathered the propeller. Shortly thereafter, the left engine lost power. Air traffic control provided vectors to the nearest airport and the pilot managed to glide to the airport, landing gear-up on the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector responded to the accident site and found 12 ounces of fuel in the right fuel tank. The left fuel tank had ruptured with significant fuel staining evidenced on the ground under the left wing. An inspection of the airplane's fuel system revealed a leak at the flexible rubber fuel hose/hose clamp at the right fuel valve. No anomalies were found in the fuel system for the left engine. The fuel system has left and right main fuel tanks in wet wings that supply their respective engines in normal flight. An auxiliary fuel pump, located outside the tank in line between the tank and the fuel selector valve, provides fuel pressure for priming during engine start and to purge fuel vapor from the lines when necessary. In the event of an engine-driven fuel pump failure, the auxiliary pumps can provide adequate fuel for engine operation. The engine-driven fuel pumps are the main pumps for the system and draw fuel by suction from the tanks through the fuel valves. Two fuel selector handles in the cockpit move the fuel valves in the wings and have positions for each main tank, cross feed, and off. During normal flight, the left selector valve is positioned to the left tank and feeds the left engine, while the right selector valve is positioned to the right tank and feeds the right engine. Fuel may be cross-fed from either main tank to the engine(s) by positioning both selector valves to the desired fuel tank. With a fitting leak on one valve, a cross-feed selection for both engines could introduce air into the operating engine's fuel lines. An "OFF" position on each valve can be selected by pushing a center button on the selector, which would stop fuel to the corresponding engine-driven fuel pump.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of power to both engines resulting from a fitting failure and leak at the right fuel selector valve that allowed fuel from the right tank to be lost overboard, and that then introduced air into the left engine's fuel lines during an attempted cross-feed operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/10/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2150 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mercury |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89060 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1160100W |
| Event Location Airport | DESERT ROCK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DRA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3314 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DRA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3314 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25095 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 10 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2009 3:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAS-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N594DM |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA073 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 402C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 402C0068 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7210 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 22 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 18952 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Distribution Management Corporation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4921 Chappell Rd. NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Albuquerque |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87107 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aero Charter & Transport |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3550 Access Rd. C. SE |
| Operator City | Albuquerque |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 87106 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RNO |
| Departure City | Reno |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2015 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VGT |
| Destination City | Las Vegas |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2009 5:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 02 |
| Runway Length | 7515 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |