Portland International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Portland, Oregon 97218
Sunday, October 10, 2010 18:55 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Prior to flight, the pilot looked inside the fuel tanks and noted that they appeared to be full; however, he did not recall how far down the fuel was from the fuel cap. The pilot departed from the airport and flew northwest 19 minutes to an airport to conduct a stop and go landing and takeoff. After departing that airport, he proceeded south for 2 hours 17 minutes to a second airport to do a full-stop landing. When he departed the second airport toward his final destination, the pilot estimated he had about 13 gallons of fuel remaining for the 48-minute flight. About 7 miles south of his final destination, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine and was successful for a short time before the engine lost power again. The pilot executed a forced landing into a nearby school yard. The total distance for the flight was about 391 miles with an estimated 3 hour 24-minute run time for the engine, without factoring in the wind, delays, and time spent on the ground. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no fuel in the right wing tank, approximately 1 gallon in the left wing tank, and about 1 ounce of fuel in the fuel line leading to the engine. There were no breaches in the fuel system. The Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane stated that the airplaneā€™s unusable fuel level was 1.5 gallons. Additionally, given the performance parameters of the accident flight, the airplane's engine would have burned approximately 7.5 gallons per hour and had a maximum range of 485 miles and 4.1 hours.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and failure to ensure adequate fuel was onboard for the flight, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/10/2010
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1855
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Portland
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97218
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 453100N
Event Location Longitude 1224500W
Event Location Airport Portland International Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PDX
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 7
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 31
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1853 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 60
Weather Observation Facility ID PDX
Elevation of weather observation facility 31
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.3
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) 28046
NTSB Notification Source FAA AMN Operations 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 23 2011 12:58PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N738GN
NTSB Number WPR11LA012
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172
Aircraft Series Identifier N
Aircraft Serial Number 17269967
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 8 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 77
Airframe Hours 10536
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Kandace Harvey
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Snohomish
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98296
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Snohomish Flying Services
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Snohomish
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98296
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation External Load
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 EUG
Departure City Eugene
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PDX
Destination City Portland
Destination State OR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2011 12:58PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --