Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Palm Beach, Florida 33406
Saturday, March 28, 1998 19:46 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The first two legs were uneventful; the fuel tanks were filled after the first flight. During the final leg, he became 'off' course and was taking longer than anticipated due to strong headwinds; no weather briefing was obtained. The pilot did not ask for assistance and corrected for being 'off' course, and while flying near the destination airport, the engine quit. The left and right fuel gauges at that time indicated less then 1/4 and 1/4 respectively. The engine was restarted momentarily but quit again. While flying over a congested highway, he attempted a forced landing in a parking lot and collided with a power line and trees. The entire fuel system was found to contain about 2.0 gallons of fuel; 3.5 gallons of fuel is the unusable amount. The right fuel tank transmitter was sticking in a position that corresponded with 1/4 tank capacity. The airplane was inspected 18.5 hours and 2 months and 13 days earlier using the manufacturers checklist. The checklist requires inspection of the transmitters and fuel gauges for proper operation and correct travel. The airplane had been operated for about 4.5 hours since the fuel tanks were filled after the first leg.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The poor in-flight planning by the pilot-in-command for his failure to ask for assistance after becoming lost momentarily, and his failure to monitor the total time airborne after the fuel tanks were filled. Contributing to the accident was the binding of the right fuel tank quantity transmitter resulting in the incorrect reading of the gauge, and inadequate aircraft manuals by the airplane manufacturer for failure to require testing of the fuel quantity indicating system for accuracy. Also contributing was the failure of the pilot to obtain a preflight weather briefing, and unsuitable terrain encountered by the pilot during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/28/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1946 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33406 |
| 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 | PALM BEACH COUNTY PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 5 |
| Airport Elevation | 17 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 2 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 323 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1800 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 581 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 28 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2026 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N22358 |
| NTSB Number | MIA98FA110 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15068235 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 15 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 3880 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HATFIELD,HARRIS,PISKURA,PURYEA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5917 VIAVERMILYA #208 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LANTANA |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33462 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BRUCE HATFIELD |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4977 PINEVIEW RD. |
| Operator City | DELRAY BEACH |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33445 |
| 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 | CLW |
| Departure City | CLEARWATER |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LNA |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |