Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sussex Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sussex, New Jersey 07461
Wednesday, July 23, 1997 13:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on a 15-minute positioning flight. About 4 miles from the destination, both engines lost power, and the pilot landed in an open field, where the airplane struck trees. The pilot reported he departed with about 800 pounds of fuel on board, and thought the gauges indicated about 300 pounds remaining when the power loss occurred. Examination revealed over 200 pounds of fuel remained in the forward tank, and the rear tank indicated 30 pounds. Both boost pumps were operative. The rear tank boost pump would not extinguish the low fuel pressure light, while the forward tank boost pump would. In addition, the low fuel quantity light for the aft tank, which should have illuminated at about 100 pounds of fuel remaining, was inoperative due to a corroded wire connection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper management of the fuel supply. A related factor was the inoperative low fuel quantity light for the rear tank.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SUSSEX |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07461 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SUSSEX |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N63 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 56 |
| Airport Elevation | 421 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1345 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 177 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 173 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | 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) | 1085 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N491AL |
| NTSB Number | NYC97LA151 |
| 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 | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-6-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-6-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 112 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11579 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 23481 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALBERTA AIRCRAFT LEASING INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | #305 3342 S SANDHILL #9 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89121 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SKYS THE LIMIT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 41 NAVAJO DRIVE |
| Operator City | MONTGOMERY |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 12549 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MGJ |
| Departure City | MONTGOMERY |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FWN |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | NJ |
| 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 | -- |