Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mountain View, Arkansas 72560
Wednesday, August 27, 1997 18:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Witnesses reported the flight was inbound to the airport with a low fuel condition. The pilot had throttled back the airplane's power to '23' [inches manifold pressure] to continue toward the airport. En route, the pilot transmitted 'Oh, I just ran out and going down into a field, do not see the airport.' During the forced landing in a field, the airplane struck a fence. The pilot had flown the airplane for a total of 60 hours without any fuel system discrepancies. The pilot stated that his preflight preparation indicated that fuel was available at the airport where he had planned for refueling; however, upon landing at the airport with a low fuel condition, the pilot discovered that fuel was not available. Thinking that he had 5 gallons of fuel remaining, the pilot departed that airport for an airport 24 nautical miles away. Neither the Sectional Chart nor the Airport/Facility Directory indicate fuel availability at the airport chosen during the preflight planning.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/27/1997
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City MOUNTAIN VIEW
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 72560
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 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 Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
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) 845
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 27 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1935
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 N9QT
NTSB Number FTW97LA332
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 Unknown
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Pitts
Aircraft Model S-2B
Aircraft Series Identifier S-2B
Aircraft Serial Number 5354
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 60
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name J & R AVIATION, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 220 EDITH AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City NOBELSVILLE
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 46060
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name RONALD K. MILLER
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 4A5
Departure City MARSHALL
Departure State AR
Departure Country
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 7M2
Destination City
Destination State AR
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 --