Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Freehold Twsp, New Jersey 07728
Saturday, April 6, 1996 16:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After being airborne on a local flight for what the pilot estimated as 20 minutes, the engine lost power. Witnesses observed the airplane in a forced landing, about 20 feet above the ground, when the nose suddenly dropped and the airplane struck the ground in a nose low attitude. Less than a quart of fuel was found in the fuel tanks and fuel sump. No fuel was found in the fuel lines, and there was no evidence of a fuel spill. The airplane had two fuel quantity measuring systems. One was electronic and recorded fuel used. The other measured quantity, and consisted of a sight gage. The pilot reported that the fuel tank was 60 to 70 percent full (13.8 to 16.1 gallons) on preflight. The sight gage indicates more fuel on the ground than in flight. According to the flight manual, the sight gage is calibrated for level flight only. A production test pilot reported that the airplane's nose will drop straight ahead in a coordinated stall.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper fuel management which resulted in a power loss due to fuel exhaustion, and his failure to maintain airspeed during a forced landing which resulted in an inadvertent stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/6/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FREEHOLD TWSP |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07728 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1545 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 287 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TTN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 213 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 496 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 6 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N917JD |
| NTSB Number | NYC96FA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Pitts |
| Aircraft Model | S-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S-2B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5313 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1700 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 2 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 66 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DIANA COMBS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 11923 |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW CASTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19720 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JOHN MULLANEY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 541 FORDS AVE |
| Operator City | FORDS |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 08863 |
| 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 | 3N6 |
| Departure City | OLD BRIDGE |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |