Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pollock, Louisiana 71467
Monday, August 4, 1997 10:18 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During cruise flight, at 5,500 feet AGL, the engine lost power. A forced landing was performed to a pipeline right-of-way, and during the landing roll the wheels of the aircraft encountered some soft ground and spun around structurally damaging the right wing and fuselage. Examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector was positioned to the left wing tank. The left wing fuel tank was empty, and the right wing fuel tank contained approximately 20 gallons of fuel. The pilot reported that he 'forgot to switch tanks.' The Pilot's Operating Handbook for the aircraft states in Section III, Emergency Procedures, page 3-3, Engine Failure After Lift off And In Flight, 'Fuel Selector - SELECT OTHER TANK.'

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation and the pilot's improper use of the fuel selector. Factors were the pilot's failure to use the checklist and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/4/1997
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1018
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City POLLOCK
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 71467
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 8
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 953 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 175
Weather Observation Facility ID ESF
Elevation of weather observation facility 112
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1361
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 4 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1600
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N24PS
NTSB Number FTW97LA294
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 C24R
Aircraft Series Identifier C24R
Aircraft Serial Number MC-681
Certified Max Gross Weight 2750
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 Jul 1 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 8
Airframe Hours 2948
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JAMES R. ROBERTSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 511 EAST C ST
Aircraft Owner City JENKS
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 74037
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 MKO
Departure City MUSKOGEE
Departure State OK
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code NEW
Destination City NEW ORLEANS
Destination State LA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
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 --