Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brunswick County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Southport, North Carolina 28461
Sunday, March 22, 1998 10:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated he checked the fuel quantity in the inboard fuel tanks, but may have omitted the outboard tanks. He departed and climbed to 100 feet where the airplane yawed right. He believed it was a gust of wind which he attempted to correct. At 200 feet, the pilot stated the airplane rolled hard right and impacted trees in a 60 degree nose down attitude. There was no indication of a left engine discrepancy prior to impact. The right engine was examined with no fuel found in the fuel lines, and trace fuel was found in the fuel servo. According to the accident pilot, he regularly flew between Washington-Dulles and Southport, North Carolina using only the inboard tanks. Because of this, he did not check the location of the fuel selector, nor did he necessarily check the fuel quantity in the outboard fuel tanks. The cockpit fuel selector for the right engine was found in the outboard tank location. The right outboard tank on this airplane was not breached, and contained no fuel. The takeoff checklist states the fuel selector should be on the inboard fuel tank prior to takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the preflight checklist, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the significance of the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft following the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/22/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SOUTHPORT |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28461 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BRUNSWICK COUNTY AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SUT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 230 |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ILM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 653 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 22 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1145 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N715PM |
| NTSB Number | ATL98FA059 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-493 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 694 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REX WILLIAM COWDRY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3101 34TH ST NW |
| Aircraft Owner City | WASHINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20008 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ARAPAHOE AVIATION INC |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SUT |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1050 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IAD |
| Destination City | WASHINGTON |
| Destination State | DC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 23 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |