Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Montgomery, Alabama 36195
Sunday, December 27, 1992 14:44 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT FILLED THE FUEL TANKS THE DAY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT AND FLEW AN UNKNOWN LENGTH OF TIME BACK TO HIS HOME AIRPORT. THE PILOT THEN FLEW FOR 3.0 HOURS ACCORDING TO THE AIRCRAFT'S HOBBS METER ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, PRIOR TO ENGINE FAILURE. JUST BEFORE THE ENGINE FAILURE THE PILOT REPORTED TO ATC A LOW FUEL STATE, AND AS THE ENGINE WAS FAILING THE PILOT REPORTED 'I AM RUNNING OUT OF FUEL.' THE RESCUE PERSONNEL WHO FIRST ARRIVED AT THE SCENE REPORTED THERE WAS NO FUEL LEAKAGE, FUEL ODOR, OR FUEL IN THE AIRCRAFT'S FUEL TANKS. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRCRAFT BY FAA INSPECTORS REVEALED THE RIGHT AND LEFT WINGS HAD VISIBLE FUEL LEAKS AND FRESH SEALANT WAS VISIBLE IN ATTEMPTS TO STOP THE LEAKS. ACCORDING TO THE AIRCRAFT KIT MANUFACTURER THE AIRCRAFT HAS A NORMAL ENDURANCE OF ABOUT 4 HOURS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT IN COMMAND'S DECISION TO OPERATE THE AIRCRAFT WITH KNOWN FUEL LEAKS AND HIS FAILURE TO MONITOR FUEL QUANTITY EN ROUTE WHICH RESULTED IN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1444 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | MONTGOMERY |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36195 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MGM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 279 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 894 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 27 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1710 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 50072 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N336SX |
| NTSB Number | MIA93LA037 |
| 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 | BUNN, RICHARD B. |
| Aircraft Model | SWEARINGEN SX300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SWEARINGEN |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 36 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 5 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 88 |
| Airframe Hours | 183 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BUNN, RICHARD B. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 13368 POLO ROAD WEST |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33441 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BUNN, RICHARD B. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 13368 POLO ROAD WEST |
| Operator City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33441 |
| 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 | FD38 |
| Departure City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1305 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |