Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Parker Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Parker, Arizona 85344
Monday, October 15, 2012 11:31 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the first flight of the day, the pilot visually checked the airplane’s fuel quantity through the fuel tank filler necks, observing what he believed to be full tanks. He subsequently checked the fuel gauges, which indicated that both wing tanks were less than half full. Surmising that the gauges were faulty, the pilot departed on a short flight to a local airport to pick up a passenger. After picking up the passenger, they departed for a cross-country flight. He did not refuel the airplane before that departure, and after travelling for about 90 minutes the engine lost total power. The pilot made a forced landing in mountainous terrain.
Subsequent examination of the airframe revealed that both fuel tanks were empty, and neither the engine nor airframe exhibited indications of a fuel leak. Examination of recorded data recovered from the airplane's flight displays revealed that its fuel consumption was appropriate for the flight profile. The data further revealed that the airplane was approaching an airport as one of the tanks ran out of fuel. The engine lost power; however, rather than landing, the pilot continued the flight after switching to the other fuel tank. The other tank ran out of fuel a short time later, and the pilot performed a forced landing to a rocky outcropping, where the airplane sustained substantial damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to perform an adequate preflight inspection, which resulted in inadequate fuel for the flight and the subsequent fuel exhaustion and a total loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to land the airplane at the first indication of low fuel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/15/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1131 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Parker |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85344 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340638N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1143739W |
| Event Location Airport | Parker |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | P20 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 12 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 62 |
| Airport Elevation | 458 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 952 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBLH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 399 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 39 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBLH 151652Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 27/06 A29 |
| 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) | 32039 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA LAX ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2013 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N499SF |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA011 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CIRRUS DESIGN CORP |
| Aircraft Model | SR20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1540 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3050 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 10 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 1714 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REGAL AIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA MONICA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90402-1337 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Robert A Lipson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Beverly Hills |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90210 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | KSNA |
| Departure City | Santa Ana |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 959 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KPRC |
| Destination City | Prescott |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2013 3:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sime1 |
| 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 | -- |