Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mitchell, Oregon 97750
Friday, October 2, 2009 12:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The single engine airplane experienced a loss of engine power during flight and the pilot performed a forced landing in rugged terrain. Examination of the airplane wreckage revealed minimal evidence of fuel. The airplane had a modified fuel tank system through a supplemental type certificate (STC). The STC changed the fuel capacity of the two fuel tanks from 30 gallons to 28.2 gallons each. The installation information for the STC noted that to determine the usable fuel for the airplane, the airplane’s type certificate data sheet (TCDS) should be referenced and the unusable fuel amount listed therein should be subtracted from the new total fuel capacity. The TCDS for the airplane stated that 5 gallons of fuel were unusable, which made the new total usable fuel capacity on the airplane 51.4 gallons. As a part of the STC, the airplane flight manual (AFM) and the fuel selector valve placard were to be updated with the revised usable fuel quantity. This action was noted on the FAA Form 337 for the STC installation. The pilot had purchased the airplane several years prior to the accident and the previous owner told him that all of the fuel (56.4 gallons) was usable. The pilot reported that there was no AFM supplement for the STC included in his paperwork, and that he did not ever look at the quantities indicated on the fuel selector valve placard in the cockpit due to its location between the seats. Examination of the recovered airframe and engine components revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s lack of understanding of the airplane’s fuel system, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/2/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mitchell |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97750 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 442111N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1195245W |
| 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 | 1256 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3080 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 63 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26499 |
| NTSB Notification Source | WP-FAA-Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 17 2010 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1621C |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA001 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30321 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Aug 28 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 4825 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tailwheel Excursion LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Redmond |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97756-0248 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William Gonce |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Redmond |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97756 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | PVT |
| Departure City | Pistol Creek |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RDM |
| Destination City | Redmond |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 15 2010 6:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |