Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boulder Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boulder, Colorado 80308
Wednesday, May 28, 2014 15:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the accident occurred during his fifth glider aero-tow flight since the airplane had last been refueled. He stated that the aero-tow and glider release were uneventful. However, as he was returning to the departure airport, the engine began to run intermittently before it eventually experienced a total loss of engine power. During the subsequent forced landing, the airplane became entangled with a chain-link fence and impacted a road before it slid into a drainage ditch. A postaccident examination of the airplane’s single fuel tank established that it was undamaged and void of any usable fuel. Before the first flight of the day, the airplane was refueled, and the total usable fuel was about 32.5 gallons. The airplane recording tachometer indicated that 2.2 tachometer hours had been accumulated since that time. Although the airplane operator reported that, according to historical fueling and flight data, the airplane’s average fuel consumption rate was about 10.2 gallons per tachometer hour, the calculated average fuel consumption rate was 14.8 gallons per tachometer hour since the last refueling. Although the total loss of engine power was caused by fuel exhaustion, the investigation could not determine the reason for the above-normal fuel consumption rate. However, if the pilot had determined the actual fuel consumption rate between flights, he should have identified that insufficient fuel was available to complete the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately monitor the airplane's actual fuel consumption rate, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/28/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boulder |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80308 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400225N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1051454W |
| Event Location Airport | Boulder Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BDU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 275 |
| Airport Elevation | 5288 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 95 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5288 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| 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) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBDU 282056Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 30/05 A30 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33333 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Central Region Duty Officer - |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2014 2:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8808L |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA261 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-5306 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2299 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 24 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8847.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Soaring Society of Boulder Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 20307 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Boulder |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80308-3307 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Soaring Society of Boulder Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 20307 |
| Operator City | Boulder |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80308-3307 |
| 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) | Glider Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BDU |
| Departure City | Boulder |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BDU |
| Destination City | Boulder |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 16 2014 2:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 08 |
| Runway Length | 4100 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |