Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
Friday, June 22, 2012 11:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during an uneventful flight, she continued past her original destination to another destination. Shortly thereafter, the pilot observed fuel streaming from the left fuel tank cap and noted that the left fuel tank gauge indicated that the tank was about 3/4 full. The pilot continued the flight toward her new destination while continuing to use fuel from the left fuel tank. As the airplane neared the new destination, the pilot observed that the left fuel tank was about 1/2 full; the engine then lost power.
After the engine lost power, the pilot switched fuel tanks and advanced both the throttle and mixture control levers; however, the engine did not restart, so she performed an off-airport landing to an open field. During a postaccident interview, the pilot stated that the fuel cap was not secured properly after refueling. As a result, fuel was siphoned from that fuel tank during the flight. Further, because the pilot had chosen to continue operating on that fuel tank, the engine lost power due to fuel starvation. A pressure differential likely resulted in the inaccurate fuel gauge indication. Examination of the left fuel tank cap and seal revealed no evidence of any preexisting anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation because of the incorrectly installed fuel cap. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to continue the flight using fuel from the left fuel tank after she observed fuel streaming from the left fuel tank cap.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/22/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rock Springs |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82901 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413549N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1090354W |
| 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 | 1054 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RKS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6765 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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) | 31792 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Aug 27 2013 6:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4972M |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA309 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-1275 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3650 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3209 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WALDO AIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BEND |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97702-1979 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jana VanAmburg |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bend |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97702 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Bend |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 717 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Rock Springs |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 27 2013 6:13PM |
| 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 | -- |