Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fairbanks International Airpor Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Friday, May 30, 2014 14:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that, while flying north over a river at 200 feet above ground level, the airplane ran out of fuel in the left tank. The engine lost power, and the pilot executed a forced landing on flat terrain with tussocks and spruce trees. The airplane subsequently struck a stand of spruce trees, sustaining substantial damage to the wings, the fuselage, and other structures.
In the pilot's written statement to the NTSB, he reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper inflight planning, which resulted in fuel starvation and a loss of engine power. A factor was the pilot's selection of a low cruise flight altitude, which provided little time for the selection of suitable terrain for the forced landing or for engine restart procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/30/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Fairbanks |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99701 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 642212N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1482548E |
| Event Location Airport | Fairbanks International Airpor |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAFA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 30 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 210 |
| Airport Elevation | 439 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 AKD |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAFA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 439 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AKD |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 13000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.63 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR PAFA 302153Z 09009KT 10SM FEW090 BKN130 OVC1 |
| 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) | 33251 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC - Anchorage |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 22 2014 1:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8646U |
| NTSB Number | ANC14CA033 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17252548 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 20 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3748 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMPSON GEORGE M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FAIRBANKS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 997121331 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | THOMPSON GEORGE M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | FAIRBANKS |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 997121331 |
| 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 | FAI |
| Departure City | FAIRBANKS |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | AKD |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FAI |
| Destination City | FAIRBANKS |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 22 2014 1:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |