- Date
- February 25, 2014, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Rosa, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9741EBellanca 17 30A
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 88861
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 mismanagement of the available fuel supply which resulted in a loss of engine power and subsequent emergency landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The airplane was cruising at 8,500 feet when the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot switched the fuel selector from the auxiliary tank to the left main fuel tank. During the transition, the engine experienced another loss of power. The pilot was unable to restore the power so he shut down the engine and made a forced landing on a road. During the landing roll, the airplane veered off the right side of the road and struck a post, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he exhausted the entire fuel supply in the auxiliary fuel tank. An examination of the wreckage by the responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the auxiliary tank did not contain any fuel. The right and left fuel tanks contained 4.5 and 20 gallons respectively. It is likely that the loss of engine power was a result of the brief fuel starvation during the transition from the empty auxiliary tank.
Factual narrative
The airplane was cruising at 8,500 feet when the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot switched the fuel selector from the auxiliary tank to the left main fuel tank. During the transition, the engine experienced another loss of power. The pilot was unable to restore the power so he shut down the engine and made a forced landing on a road. During the landing roll, the airplane veered off the right side of the road and struck a post, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he exhausted the entire fuel supply in the auxiliary fuel tank. An examination of the wreckage by the responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the auxiliary tank did not contain any fuel. The right and left fuel tanks contained 4.5 and 20 gallons respectively.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9741E
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17 30A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 78-30860
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 1,880
- Engine
- Cont Motor IO 520 K, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael T Fishburn
- Registered owner
- Michael T Fishburn
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2013 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- 1N1 · Edgewood, NM
- Destination
- PVW · Plainview, TX
- Airport
- SXU · Santa Rosa Route 66
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 30, 2013
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,624 total · 364 in this make and model · 2,409 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 900 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- KTCC, 40 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 3, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 MB in all.