Lebanon Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lebanon, Tennessee 37087
Saturday, September 27, 1997 14:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot estimated that the airplane had 16 gallons of low lead aviation fuel in the tanks at takeoff. After takeoff the pilot switched the fuel selector from the fuselage tank to the wing tank. After 30 minutes of flight the pilot returned to the airport and entered the traffic pattern for landing. About 200 feet above the ground, while on final approach to land, the engine quit. Efforts to restart the engine were unsuccessful. The airplane collided with a tree short of the active runway. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane. Normal operational procedures for takeoff and landing require that the fuel selector be placed in the fuselage/front tank position. The pilot stated that he had not switched the fuel selector to the fuller fuel tank, fuselage/front tank, prior to the loss of engine power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow normal checklist procedures that resulted in fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/27/1997
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City LEBANON
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 37087
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LEBANON MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID M54
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 560
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 265
Weather Observation Facility ID BNA
Elevation of weather observation facility 598
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 14000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 20
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 2700
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) 1170
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 27 1907 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:33PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N54JT
NTSB Number ATL97LA141
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 Tomlinson
Aircraft Model POBER SUPER ACE
Aircraft Series Identifier POBER SUPE
Aircraft Serial Number 22A
Certified Max Gross Weight 1100
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 130
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN J. TOMLINSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 106 WEST MEADE DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City LEBANON
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 37087
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code M54
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
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 4
Runway Length 2500
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --