Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kerrville, Texas 78029
Thursday, December 19, 1996 14:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, the engine lost power without warning while in cruise flight at 3,500 feet. The pilot reported that he switched tanks and activated the fuel boost pump to no avail. He intended to land on a road, but due to obstructions on the road, he executed a forced landing to an adjacent open field. The accident site was approximately 10 miles west of the destination airport. During the landing roll, in what turned out to be 'a very rocky field,' the outboard portion of the left wing impacted a tree, and both main landing gear were torn from the airframe. The pilot stated that before his departure from Rocksprings, Texas, the airplane's fuel totalizer was indicating 18.8 gallons of fuel remaining. The fuel gages were reading 1/4 in the left tank and between 1/8 and 1/4 in the right tank. The pilot calculated that the distance between the two airports was 56.6 nautical miles, and he intended to use his Loran to fly direct. Postaccident examination of the aircraft revealed that the right fuel tank was empty and only residual fuel remained in the left fuel tank. The fuel selector valve was found in the right tank position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, which resulted in fuel exhaustion due to an inadequate supply of fuel. A factor relating to the accident was: the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/19/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | KERRVILLE |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78029 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 1091 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 20 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 925 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6555Y |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA066 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 210N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 210-64436 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 19 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 2730 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN B. EBNER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 659 |
| Aircraft Owner City | RYE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77369 |
| 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 | R69 |
| Departure City | ROCKSPRINGS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ERV |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | TX |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |