Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Skwentna, Alaska 99667
Friday, June 1, 2012 16:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot and one passenger departed from a lake on a personal cross country flight. During the pilot’s preflight check, he noted that the right wing fuel tank contained about 32 gallons of fuel, and the left wing fuel tank contained about 5 gallons of fuel. About 8 miles south of the departure lake, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet mean sea level, the airplane’s engine lost power. The pilot said that he turned on the fuel boost pump, and the engine rpm rose momentarily but dropped again. He stated that he did not recall checking the fuel selector valve as part of his emergency restart procedures. He executed a forced landing in a marsh.
The pilot stated that he always operated the airplane with the fuel selector valve in the “Both Tanks On” position; however, a postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed that the airplane’s fuel selector valve was in the “Left Tank Only” position. A postaccident engine run revealed no mechanical anomalies with the engine, and it operated normally at all power settings. An annual inspection of the airplane was completed on May 20, 2012, and the airplane had flown approximately four hours since the inspection.
Both the normal “Before Takeoff” and the “Emergency Landing without Engine Power” checklists direct the pilot to check the fuel selector valve position. Given the lack of mechanical deficiencies with the airplane's engine and the discovery of the fuel selector valve in the “Left Tank Only” position, it is likely that the pilot did not check the fuel selector valve either during his preflight or after the loss of engine power. Considering the amount of fuel noted in the left wing fuel tank during the pilot’s preflight, it is also likely that the engine lost power due to fuel starvation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power in cruise flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to follow the checklist after the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/1/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Skwentna |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99667 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 600400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1505348W |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30909 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AAL Regional Operations Ce |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2013 10:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1795R |
| NTSB Number | ANC12LA046 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | A185F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18502511 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 20 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 4490 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BROUSSARD KENNETH J |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99502-4385 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | BROUSSARD KENNETH J |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | ANCHORAGE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99502-4385 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Skwentna |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 720 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PALH |
| Destination City | Anchorage |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 9 2013 12:56PM |
| 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 | -- |