Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Windsor Twnship, Pennsylvania 17404
Sunday, August 9, 1998 13:38 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he was north of Lancaster at an altitude of 8,500 feet, when he requested an IFR clearance to descend below the cloud cover. Once the clearance was received for the descent, he extended the landing gear. While descending through 4,000 feet, the front engine lost power, and within 30 seconds, the rear engine lost power. He recalled that he saw 100 pounds of fuel indicating on both fuel gauges. He stated that he did not raise the landing gear, and because neither of his engines had unfeathering devices, he did not feather either engine. The pilot stated that the controller vectored him to an airport 6 miles away, but when he realized that he was unable to reach it, he executed a forced landing into a cornfield. He further stated that about 10 feet above the field, the right wing dropped, and the airplane impacted the ground in a right wing down, nose down attitude. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. The Inspector reported that approximately 2 gallons of fuel were drained from the wreckage. The Pilot's Operating Handbook recovered from the airplane indicated that the total fuel tank capacity was 125 gallons, which included 2 unusable gallons.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel which led to fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/9/1998
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1338
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City WINDSOR TWNSHIP
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 17404
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
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1347 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID BGR
Elevation of weather observation facility 403
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 20
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 4
Injury Total All 5
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1678
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 9 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1407
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:42AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8CX
NTSB Number IAD98LA091
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T337G
Aircraft Series Identifier T337G
Aircraft Serial Number P3370079
Certified Max Gross Weight 4700
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 5
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 15 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 13
Airframe Hours 3126
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SKYMASTER OF VIRGINIA, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 147 HERMITAGE ROAD
Aircraft Owner City NEWPORT NEWS
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 23606
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name GARY POULIN
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 147 HERMITAGE RD
Operator City NEWPORT NEWS
Operator State VA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 23606
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 PWM
Departure City PORTLAND
Departure State ME
Departure Country
Departure Time 1055
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code LNS
Destination City LANCASTER
Destination State PA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
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 --