Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309
Tuesady, April 20, 1999 19:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on approach to land the left engine surged and lost power. The pilot switched the left engine fuel selector to another fuel tank and the engine restarted. A short time later the left engine surged and lost power again. The pilot switched the left engine fuel selector to the right main fuel tank and the engine again restarted. A short time later the left engine quit again and he shutdown the engine and feathered the propeller. A short time later the right engine surged and lost power. He shut down the right engine and feathered the propeller. He then made a forced landing in a field and during landing rollout the aircraft's left wing collided with a tree. A fire erupted in the left wing area. Post crash examination showed the right main fuel tank was empty. The right auxiliary fuel tank contained 2.5 gallons. The left main fuel tank contained one half gallon of fuel and the left auxiliary tank was ruptured. The pilot operating handbook stated that the main fuel tanks had one gallon unusable fuel and the auxiliary fuel tanks had one half gallon of unusable fuel.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the pilot in command's failure to ensure that the aircraft had adequate fuel to complete the flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/20/1999
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1910
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City FORT LAUDERDALE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33309
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FORT LAUDERDALE EXECUTIVE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FXE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 270
Airport Elevation 14
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1923 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID FXE
Elevation of weather observation facility 14
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 800
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 339
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 20 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N744MA
NTSB Number MIA99LA136
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 402B
Aircraft Series Identifier 402B
Aircraft Serial Number 402B-0592
Certified Max Gross Weight 6300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 15 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 18
Airframe Hours 2675
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name THREE AMIGOS FLYING SVCS., INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3030 SW 28TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City COCONUT GROVE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33133
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name EXECSTAR AVIATION, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 11860 NW 37TH STREET
Operator City SUNRISE
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33323
Operator Code XVQA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FMY
Departure City FORT MYERS
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1830
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code FXE
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 6001
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --