Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N.Myrtle Beach Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577
Wednesday, August 19, 1998 14:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The day before the accident, the pilot reported an unspecified vibration in the engine during the flight of that day. On the day of the accident, the pilot reported that after the initial takeoff he experienced engine vibrations and was not comfortable about the first banner pickup of the morning. He decided to fly to a holding area to resolve the vibration problem. After about three minutes, the pilot returned and picked up the banner. After flying approximately five hours, the pilot reported what he described as a low frequency vibration in the engine. Moments later, the engine lost power, and the pilot was no longer able to maintain flight. The pilot elected to ditch the airplane. During the examination of the airplane, approximately one ounce of fuel was drained from the fuel line that connects to the left fuel tank. Examination of the fuel system failed to disclose breaches or leaks. The airplane was topped off with 38 gallons of fuel before the pilot departed. The normal fuel consumption for this airplane was approximately eight gallons per hour. The pilot stated that he 'may have run out of fuel.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning of fuel required for the flight that resulted in fuel exhaustion and the total loss of engine power. A factor was the pilot continued flight operation with known deficiencies in equipment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MYRTLE BEACH |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29577 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | N.MYRTLE BEACH AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CRE |
| 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 | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1358 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CRE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 650 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1299 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 19 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N78583 |
| NTSB Number | ATL98LA116 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-3970 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 4 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3611 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BARNSTOMER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | POB 1544 |
| Aircraft Owner City | N.MYRTLE BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29598 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CRE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |