Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Manson, Washington 98831
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 18:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was making a round-robin cross-country flight, and his preflight fuel planning indicated that he would need 15.8 gallons of fuel to complete the flight and have the required reserve for visual flight rules. He visually checked the fuel level in the tanks prior to departure on the first leg and estimated that he had over 30 gallons on board. This approximated what he observed on the fuel gauges at the start of the flight; he did not have a calibrated measuring device for his airplane. The pilot completed the outbound leg successfully. Preflight for the return leg consisted of a walk-around visual inspection of the airplane but did not include a visual examination of the fuel levels in the fuel tanks. Approaching the destination on the return leg, the engine began to run rough, lost all power, restarted briefly, and then lost all power again. The pilot made an off-airport forced landing in rough terrain. Postaccident examination found that the fuel tanks were empty. The pilot surmised that a fuel leak developed for undetermined reasons; however, there was no evidence found to indicate that a fuel leak had occurred.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and the pilot’s failure to ensure that a sufficient quantity of fuel was on board to complete the flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/18/2010
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Manson
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98831
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 475304N
Event Location Longitude 1200806W
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 1755 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KEAT
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.71
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 2
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 30339
NTSB Notification Source FAA NWM Opertions Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2012 5:54PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N30559
NTSB Number WPR10LA412
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 177A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7701326
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800
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 Apr 30 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5570
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Skylarks Flying Club
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Manson
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98831
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Skylarks Flying Club
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Manson
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98831
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 KS93
Departure City Cle Elum
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1719
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KS10
Destination City Chelan
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2012 5:43PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --