Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Garnett Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Garnett, Kansas 66032
Friday, December 13, 1996 5:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he had started working for the company four days before the accident. He said he had checked the Kansas City weather before he departed Oklahoma City, and expected it to be clear. However, when he arrived at Kansas City, fog had developed. The pilot flew three ILS approaches, but was unable to land due to the fog. He returned to VFR conditions near Garnett Municipal Airport. The pilot reported that as he approached the airport, one fuel tank ran dry. He switched fuel tanks. When he saw the airport, he was too close to make a landing, so he did a 360 degree turn to line up with the runway. However, the aircraft ran out of fuel, and the pilot made a forced landing into a field about 1/2 mile short of the runway. The landing gear was damaged during the landing. The aircraft was examined and no fuel was found in the tanks. The pilot reported that he was not tired or fatigued.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision, including a delay in proceeding to an alternate airport after encountering fog during a night approach, which resulted in loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/13/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 530 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | GARNETT |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66032 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GARNETT MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | K68 |
| 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 | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 989 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| 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 | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| 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) | 1460 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 13 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1133 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:29AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N31SW |
| NTSB Number | CHI97LA042 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7680311 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 22 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 12569 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SAFE WING AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1025 LOUHOLLAND DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | KANSAS CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 64116 |
| 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 | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OKC |
| Departure City | OKLAHOMA CITY |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 245 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MKC |
| Destination City | KANSAS CITY |
| 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 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 1 |
| Runway Length | 2400 |
| Runway Width | 45 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |