- Date
- September 12, 2013, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Spanish Fork, UT
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N87653Cessna M337B
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 4, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 88142
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 properly manage fuel which resulted in fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of power to the forward engine.
Findings · 2
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 pilot reported that on the day of the accident, he elected to fly with a light, and slightly uneven, load of fuel to accommodate for the extra equipment and people onboard. During the low altitude flight, the pilot was not transferring fuel from the right wing fuel tanks to the left wing fuel tanks. Subsequently, the left wing fuel tanks ran empty and the forward engine lost power. The pilot elected to land in a nearby corn field. During the landing, the airplane's forward engine firewall sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engines that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that on the day of the accident, he elected to fly with a light, and slightly uneven, load of fuel to accommodate for the extra equipment and people onboard. During the low altitude flight, the pilot was not transferring fuel from the right wing fuel tanks to the left wing fuel tanks. Subsequently, the left wing fuel tanks ran empty and the forward engine lost power. The pilot elected to land in a nearby corn field. During the landing, the airplane's forward engine firewall sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engines that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N87653
- Reported as
- Cessna M337B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 337M0222
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 5,514
- Engines
- Continental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Artemis Inc
- Registered owner
- Artemis Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 6, 2013
- Departed
- U77 · Spanish Fork, UT
- Destination
- U77 · Spanish Fork, UT
- Airport
- U77 · Spanish Fork Airport
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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 5, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 560 in this make and model · 7,000 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- PVU, 5 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB in all.