Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rock Springs, North Carolina 28787
Wednesday, June 30, 1999 12:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the certified flight instructor (CFI), and the pilot receiving instruction (PRI), while climbing through 4,500 feet Mean Sea Level, the engine started to run rough. Carburetor heat was added and, "...the engine smoothed out for a few seconds, but then the engine quit altogether ...we went thru the engine-out checklist in an effort to get a restart, never thinking we had run out of fuel...we noted the right fuel gauge reading empty. The left gauge...read about 1/2 to 2/3 full." The PRI selected a field as a forced landing area and they headed for it. The CFI did not like the area and headed for a road. They were both aware of the wires that crossed the road, and ran parallel to the road. The PRI relinquished the controls to the CFI. The CFI maneuvered the airplane between the wires. The right wing tip hit the wires, and the airplane was deflected to the right. The right wing tip hit a pine tree, and the airplane hit the ground collapsing the nose gear and the main gear. According to the CFI, the PRI had preflighted the airplane's fuel system by dipping his finger into the fuel cell. He then used a dip-stick provided in the airplane for a more accurate assessment. The PRI stated that after he checked the fuel tanks, he told the CFI that the airplane was topped off. The CFI did not confirm this. After the accident the CFI found out that the PRI had used the wrong dipstick which had been provided by Asheville Jet Center. The FAA inspector stated in his statement that the airplane was last refueled by the Jet Center on June 26, 1999. A renter who flew the airplane for 6.5 hours said he added 10 gallons of fuel on June 27. 1999. Asheville Jet Center stated that they had no record of the airplane being refueled between June 27, 1999, and the accident flight on June 30. Examination of the fuel system revealed no fuel in the right fuel tank. The left wing tank inspection panel was removed and about one pint of fuel was present. Both fuel caps were on firmly. Both fuel tanks maintained their structural integrity. There was no evidence that fuel had vented overboard. Fuel was present in the fuel strainer and in the fuel line from the engine to just above the strainer. The CFI also verified that no fuel was present in the tanks. He also stated that before takeoff he looked at the fuel gauges and they were somewhere between 1/3 and full.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Inadequate preflight by the pilot receiving instruction and inadequate supervision by the CFI resulting in an in-flight engine failure due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the CFI's inadequate visual lookout.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/30/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ROCK SPRINGS |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28787 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1000 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 903 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 1 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4784N |
| NTSB Number | MIA99LA192 |
| 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 | 182Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182Q |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18267367 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 24 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 |
| Airframe Hours | 1901 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ASHEVILLE JET CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1974 A HENDERSONVILLE RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ASHEVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28803 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AVL |
| Departure City | ASHEVILLE |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |