Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rhinebeck, New York 12572
Sunday, September 4, 1994 14:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT PREFLIGHTED THE AIRPLANE AND DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS ABOUT 12 GALLONS OF FUEL ON BOARD. HIS DESTINATION WAS 12 MILES FROM THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT, AND THE ESTIMATED EN ROUTE TIME WAS 15 MINUTES. THE PILOT DECIDED TO NOT REFUEL THE AIRPLANE PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. THE PILOT ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AND ESTABLISHED A VFR FINAL APPROACH TO LAND ON RUNWAY 36. HE REPORTED THE 'AIR WAS QUITE ROUGH,' AND THE ENGINE 'SUDDENLY SLOWED DOWN AND STOPPED.' THE AIRPLANE'S ALTITUDE WAS TOO LOW TO ATTEMPT A RESTART, OR REACH THE RUNWAY; THEREFORE, THE PILOT WAS FORCED TO LAND THE AIRPLANE IN THE TREES. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, 'THE TROUBLE WAS PROBABLY CAUSED BY THE ROUGH AIR SLOSHING THE FUEL IN THE LEFT TANK, CAUSING SLUGS OF AIR TO ENTER THE FUEL LINE TO THE FUEL PUMP.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and inaccurate fuel consumption calculations, resulting in fuel starvation and engine failure, and the subsequent collision with trees during a forced landing. A factor related to the accident was the turbulent air conditions during the approach.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | RHINEBECK |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12572 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | OLD RHINEBECK AERODROME |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NY94 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 300 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1345 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | POU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 166 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1968 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5291C |
| NTSB Number | NYC94LA168 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | C35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-2681 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 10 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 4515 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN M. MILLER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 41 KINGWOOD RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | POUGHKEEPSIE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12601 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | POU |
| Departure City | POUGHKEEPSIE |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1357 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NY94 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |