Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hobbs/Lea County Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hobbs, New Mexico 88240
Tuesady, February 11, 1997 13:35 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After about 70 minutes of cross country flight, the engine quit. After noticing that the left fuel tank gauge was reading 'empty', the pilot switched to the right tank, restarted the engine and proceeded to his destination. After about another 90 minutes of uneventful flight, while on final approach to land, the engine quit again and the pilot executed a forced landing. Examination of the aircraft revealed that the right wing fuel tank was empty and the left wing tank was found to contain approximately 9 gallons of fuel. Fuel tank structural integrity was not compromised and there were no noticeable fuel stains around the engine compartment or on the belly skin of the aircraft. The fuel selector valve was found in the right tank position and the fuel return line fitting was found separated from the engine firewall. Inspection of the threads on both the male and female connection point of fitting revealed deformations. The pilot reported that the aircraft was topped off with 84 gallons of fuel prior to departure, and with a burn rate of 14.5-15.5 gallons per hour he should have had about 37 gallons of fuel left at his destination (348 nautical miles distance traveled). He reported no fuel odors in flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation for undetermined reasons. A factor was the pilot's continued flight after a fuel consumption anomaly was encountered.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/11/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1335 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | HOBBS |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88240 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HOBBS/LEA COUNTY MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HOB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| 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 | Serious |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 154 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 11 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1731 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1866Z |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA102 |
| 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 | 210-5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 210-5 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 205-0066 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 10 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 104 |
| Airframe Hours | 3367 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LUTHER P. HINESLY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RR 1 P.O. BOX 24D |
| Aircraft Owner City | KERENS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75144 |
| 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 | CRS |
| Departure City | CORSICANA |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HOB |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |