Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Barrien County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nashville, Georgia 31639
Tuesady, March 4, 1997 13:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 45 minutes after takeoff, while cruising at 8,500 feet, the pilot attempted to reposition the fuel selector to another tank, but the selector would not move. He elected to land as soon as possible to have the problem corrected. While on short final to land, the engine lost power. Attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful. About 400 yards from the runway, the airplane's left wing struck a tree, and the airplane crashed in a swamp. An FAA investigator interviewed the pilot and asked him when he last moved the fuel selector valve. The pilot stated that he last moved it on 'the day before the flight and [it] operated normally at that time.' The fuel selector was 'not moved' before he departed for this flight. For this flight, he had used an 'abbreviated checklist.' Item 12 in the airplane's Flight Manual under the heading of starting procedures, stated; '...Activate the [fuel] selector valve several times by rotating the handle from tank to tank to ensure that the selector valve is free.' The abbreviated checklist that the pilot used did not contain item 12. Examination of the airplane's fuel selector revealed that the selector valve was stuck in the left fuel tank position due to rust from the fuel/drain spring. The rust had worked its way in between the valve seat, causing the valve to be 'stuck in place.' The left fuel tank had been breached during the accident sequence; the amount of fuel in tank at the time of the accident was not verified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a stuck (jammed) fuel selector valve, due to corrosion from a fuel drain spring, which resulted in fuel starvation, loss of engine power, a forced landing, and subsequent impact with trees. A factor relating to the accident was: the pilot's inadequate preflight while using an abbreviated checklist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/4/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | NASHVILLE |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31639 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BARRIEN COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4J2 |
| 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 | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 239 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VLD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 204 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| 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) | 30 |
| 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) | 175 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 4 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3257C |
| NTSB Number | MIA97LA093 |
| 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 | E35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | E35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-3922 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2725 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NEIL A. WRIGHT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9779 BEAVER CREEK CHURCH RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | HAGERSTOWN |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21740 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FULLINGTON AIR FRIEGHT INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | WILLMINGTON |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 19801 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | X47 |
| Departure City | BUNAELL |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1150 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SUS |
| Destination City | ST LOUIS |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |