Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

New Brockton, Alabama 36351
Thursday, November 26, 1998 16:15 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that when he arrived at the airplane, he checked the fuel, and found 'around 12 or 13 gallons' of fuel in the tanks. He took off and flew for 'around 30 minutes.' He returned to the airport, landed and checked his fuel before taking off again. This time when he checked fuel he said there was 'around 8 to 9 gallons' of fuel in the tanks. He took off again with a different passenger, and flew for 'around 15 minutes.' Again he returned to the airport, landed, and checked his fuel. This time he said, '...the fuel tanks had a little more than quarter of tank of fuel (between 5 to 6 gallons.' He took off again with a third passenger, and was heading west, when he said 'the engine quite running.' He said, '...I tried to restart the engine and failed. I then scanned the area for a safe place to land...I found a field that was about 2 miles from were the engine quit. By the time I got to the field I was at tree top level...the field was just plowed, when the wheels touched down the nose gear stuck in the dirt and caused the airplane to flip over.' According to the FAA the pilot received the airplane with the tank 1/2 full of fuel, and could not purchase fuel, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. He flew some passengers around the local area for an unknown number of hours, and on the third flight, the airplane's engine failed. He completed a forced landing in a field and the airplane nosed over. Examination of the wreckage revealed no fuel in either of the airplane's fuel tanks or on the ground. The fuel tanks and fuel lines were not breached. The FAA report stated that the pilot, '...miscalculated his fuel causing the engine to stop and necessitating an emergency landing in a field.'

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to perform fuel consumption calculations for the flight, resulting in a total power failure due to fuel exhaustion, and subsequent forced landing in soft terrain. Contributing factors in this accident were inadequate pre-flight planning and preparation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/26/1998
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1615
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City NEW BROCKTON
Event State ALABAMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 36351
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 Off Airport/Airstrip
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 1655 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID ORZ
Elevation of weather observation facility 298
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 10000
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
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 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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1579
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 26 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:57PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3060X
NTSB Number MIA99LA037
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 150F
Aircraft Series Identifier 150F
Aircraft Serial Number 15064460
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6577
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BASCOM H. KNIGHT
Aircraft Owner Street Address RR 3, BOX 209
Aircraft Owner City ENTERPRISE
Aircraft Owner State AL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 36330
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code EDN
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone CST
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:57PM
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 --