Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Moss Hill Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kinston, North Carolina 28501
Sunday, March 22, 1998 17:52 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before departure, the fuel tanks were fueled to the point where the fuel supply automatically shut off due to nozzle-to-fuel contact, but the pilot did not confirm visually that the fuel tanks were filled to the filler neck. The first leg of the flight was uneventful, lasting about 1 hour 24 minutes. During the return flight, as the airplane was approaching the destination airport, the engine lost power. The pilot was able to restart the engine, but it lost power again; this process occurred several times. The pilot made a forced landing in a field about 2-1/2 miles from the airport, and during the landing roll, the airplane encountered soft terrain and nosed over. The pilot stated that at the time of the loss of power, the right fuel tank gauge indicated 1/4 capacity. During both legs of the flight, the mixture control remained in the full rich position. Postaccident examination by an FAA inspector revealed only residual fuel in the fuel tanks. No discrepancies were noted to the fuel indication system. Four gallons of fuel were added to the right fuel tank, which registered just above empty on the fuel gauge. The engine was started, and it operated normally. The performance charts for the airplane were predicated in part on leaning the mixture.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate preflight and improper fuel management, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, and a forced landing. Soft terrain in the emergency landing area was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/22/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1752 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | KINSTON |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28501 |
| 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 | MOSS HILL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6NC9 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 37 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 94 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 173 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 22 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1907 |
| 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 | N35326 |
| NTSB Number | MIA98LA104 |
| 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 | 172I |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172I |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17256714 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 6 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 4696 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ELIZABETH A DAVIS CREWS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6001 PENNY RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | RALEIGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27606 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FFA |
| Departure City | KILL DEVIL HILL |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1635 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 6NC9 |
| Destination City | KINSTON |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | -- |