Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Tortue
Sunday, November 29, 1998 8:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, during pre-flight examination of the airplane performed the evening prior to the flight, the fuel gauges read 'around' 3/4 full. Visual examination of the tanks by the pilot revealed the tanks were not full but he believed the quantity was more than adequate to conduct his flight. While at 17000 feet MSL and approximately 60 miles from his destination, both the left engine and right engine suffered fuel exhaustion. After declaring an emergency, the pilot ditched the airplane in the Atlantic Ocean about ten miles off the coast of Isle De La Tortue, Haiti. The pilot received minor injuries and was rescued by the United States Coast Guard at 1730 the same day. Based on data obtained from the Raytheon Aircraft Company and 3/4 full fuel tanks, the total available flight time for this flight was approximately 4.00 hours. The actual flight time for this flight was 3.25 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate preflight planning/preparation by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion due to an inadequate supply of fuel. A factor was the terrain ( water).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LA TORTUE |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 754 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DPP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1392 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 29 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 930 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N171TE |
| NTSB Number | ATL99LA026 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 65-A90 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 65-A90 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | LJ180 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9300 |
| 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 | 9 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 14 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10119 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VEC CORPORATION DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 241 MAIN STREET STE 610 |
| Aircraft Owner City | HACKENSACK |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07601 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BPI AEROSPACE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8000 NW 31ST STREET BAY 9 |
| Operator City | MIAMI |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33122 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HWO |
| Departure City | NORTH PERRY |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MTCH |
| Destination City | HAITI |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:54PM |
| 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 | -- |