Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redstone Aaf Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redstone Arsena, Alabama 35898
Friday, October 20, 1995 19:55 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that 3 flights lasting a total of about 5 hours were scheduled due to installation of the rebuilt engine. Before departure on the first flight the fuel tanks were nearly full. The first and second flights were uneventful and both lasted 3.4 hours. The pilot used a commercially fabricated dipstick with incorrect readings to verify fuel quantity before departing on the third flight. Fuel servicing was not performed before departure for the third flight. After departure the pilot activated his VFR flight plan which he later updated the ETA. The flight returned and the pilot performed 2 full stop landings. While turning base for the final full stop landing, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot was unable to land on the runway due to an extended downwind leg and landed in trees. The engine had been operated for about 6.0 hours since fueling including 3 additional takeoff's not planned during the fuel consumption calculations. Search and Rescue was delayed due to ATC comment that the overdue flight was actually safe on the ground.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's poor inflight planning decision for not flying the scheduled time and electing to perform 3 additional takeoffs not planned during fuel consumption calculations. Contributing to the accident was the use of an inaccurate dipstick.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/20/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1955 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | REDSTONE ARSENA |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35898 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | REDSTONE AAF |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KHUA |
| 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 | 144 |
| Airport Elevation | 655 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1958 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 630 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2048 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 21 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 555 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3163E |
| NTSB Number | MIA96TA014 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182R |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18268236 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 19 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 1702 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CIVIL AIR PATROL, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | NAT'L HEADQUARTER BLDG. 714 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MAXWELL AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36112 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HUA |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1725 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| 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 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |