- Date
- April 23, 1994, 10:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Sterling, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1295WWeatherly 201C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940423009019A
- Case key
- 19041
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
An inadvertent stall. Factors were fuel exhaustion and the pilot's failue to refuel the airplane.
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 newly-hired pilot was making his third flight in airplane make and model, and his second company water spraying practice flight. According to the chief pilot, as the airplane made the approach, the engine 'sounded rough, like it was running out of gas.' Other witnesses said the engine was not running. The airplane pulled up, banked right, rolled inverted, and descended into the ground. The FAA inspector who examined the wreckage said he found less than 1 gallon of fuel in the right tank and the left tank was empty. The right tank held 25 gallons useable fuel and the left tank held 40 gallons. The airplane took off at 0815. The operator heard the pilot report switching tanks at 0930. The accident occurred at 1015. The fuel selector valve was positioned on the right tank. The operator said the engine consumed between 21 and 26 gallons per hour, depending on power setting.
Factual narrative
On April 23, 1994, approximately 1015 mountain daylight time, a Weatherly 201C, N1295W, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while maneuvering near Sterling, Colorado. The pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
According to the airplane operator, the pilot was a new company employee, and this was his third flight in this airplane make and model. It was also his second practice flight, water spraying a field next to the airport. The chief pilot was observing the pilot's performance. He told a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that as the airplane made an approach, the engine "sounded rough, like it was running out of gas." Several other witnesses said the engine was not operating. The chief pilot said the airplane pulled up, banked right, rolled inverted, and descended into the ground in a near vertical attitude.
According to the FAA inspector, he found less than one gallon of fuel in the right tank and the left tank was empty. The fuel selector valve was on the right tank. The operator said the airplane held 65 gallons (25 gallons in the right tank, 40 gallons in the left tank) of useable fuel, and the engine consumed 21 to 26 gallons per hour, depending on the power setting. The operator further stated the airplane took off at 0815 and he remembered the pilot saying he switched tanks at 0930. The accident occurred about 1015.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1295W
- Reported as
- Weatherly 201C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1003
- Airframe hours
- 3,086
- Engine
- P&W R-985-AN1, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Benson Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 2, 1993 · 33 hours before
- Airport
- 3C02 · Mertens
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
- 37
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 2,600 total · 2 in this make and model · 2,097 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AKO, 27 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.