Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ellington Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pasadena, Texas 77034
Thursday, March 21, 1991 22:25 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE EXPERIENCED AN ENGINE FAILURE DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION WHILE ON FINAL BETWEEN THE FAF AND THE THRESHOLD ON A SECOND ILS APPROACH IN NIGHT IMC AFTER A FLIGHT OF 5.1 HOURS. A MISSED APPROACH WAS EXECUTED ON THE FIRST WHEN THE PILOT DEVIATED BEYOND LIMITS BOTH IN ALTITUDE AND COURSE. THE PILOT HAD FLIGHT PLANNED 3:45 ETE AND INDICATED THAT HE HAD 6:00 HOURS OF FUEL ON BOARD. THE FUEL EXHAUSTION TIME CORRESPONDED WITH PERFORMANCE DATA PROVIDED IN THE AIRPLANE OWNER'S HANDBOOK. ALTHOUGH HE RECEIVED A WEATHER BRIEFING PRIOR TO DEPARTURE AND OBTAINED WEATHER EN ROUTE, THE PILOT DID NOT REQUEST WIND ALOFT INFORMATION. THE FLIGHT ENCOUNTERED 35 TO 40 KNOT HEAD WINDS THROUGHOUT THE TRIP AND ON 4 SEPARATE OCCASIONS THE CONTROLLERS ASKED THE PILOT IF HE HAD ENOUGH FUEL TO REACH HIS DESTINATION. DURING THE FINAL LEG OF THE FLIGHT THE PILOT OVERFLEW AT LEAST 3 SUITABLE ALTERNATE AIRPORTS. FOLLOWING THE ENGINE FAILURE, THE PILOT ALLOWED THE AIRPLANE TO STALL AND IT SUBSEQUENTLY IMPACTED THE GROUND IN STEEP NOSE DOWN, LEFT WING LEADING ATTITUDE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
POWER LOSS DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION RESULTANT FROM THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO REFUEL AT AN ALTERNATE DESTINATION AND THE INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS WERE THE DARK NIGHT AND WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2225 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | PASADENA |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77034 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ELLINGTON FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EFD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 350 |
| Airport Elevation | 34 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2245 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 34 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1223 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 44327 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N888G |
| NTSB Number | FTW91FA055 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-545 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 23 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 77 |
| Airframe Hours | 3792 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHANNEL AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5600 BARKALOO ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | BAYTOWN |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77521 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CHANNEL AVIATION, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 5600 BARKALOO ROAD |
| Operator City | BAYTOWN |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 77521 |
| 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 | LIT |
| Departure City | LITTLE ROCK |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1723 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HPY |
| Destination City | BAYTOWN |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 17 |
| Runway Length | 9000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |