- Date
- July 8, 2000, 16:15 local (Jul 9, 2000, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- Chickaloon, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9855MMaule M-4-210C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20000708042309A
- Case key
- 49692
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion. A factor associated with the accident was rough/uneven terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The certificated private pilot reported that while in cruise flight, just after switching the fuel selector valve from the right fuel tank to the left fuel tank, all engine power was lost. He said that emergency engine procedures did not restore engine power, and he selected a sand bar as a forced landing area. During the landing roll the left main wheel struck a rut, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and left wing lift strut. The pilot submitted a written report to the NTSB dated August 23. In a cover letter that accompanied the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot wrote: 'It was a matter of running out of fuel without realizing what was going on and setting down in the most inviting spot.'
Factual narrative
On July 8, 2000, about 1615 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Maule M-4-210C airplane, N9855M, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing at an off airport site, about 11 miles east of Palmer, Alaska, at 61 degrees, 07 minutes north latitude, 148 degrees, 43 minutes west longitude. The solo certificated private pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1415, from the Tok Airport, Tok, Alaska.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on July 9, the pilot reported that while in cruise flight, just after switching the fuel selector valve from the right fuel tank to the left fuel tank, all engine power was lost. He said that emergency engine procedures did not restore engine power, and he selected a sand bar as a forced landing area. During the landing roll the left main wheel struck a rut, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and left wing lift strut.
The pilot submitted a written report to the NTSB dated August 23. In a cover letter that accompanied the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot wrote: "It was a matter of running out of fuel without realizing what was going on and setting down in the most inviting spot."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9855M
- Reported as
- Maule M-4-210C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1034C
- Airframe hours
- 2,435
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-A, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Donald E. Halsted
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 28, 1999 · 27 hours before
- Departed
- TKJ · Tok, AK
- Destination
- PAQ · Palmer, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 118 total · 20 in this make and model · 41 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft overcast
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.