Beaumont Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Beaumont, Texas 77701
Monday, November 1, 1999 16:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane's engine lost power as a result of fuel exhaustion, and during the ensuing forced landing the airplane struck trees. According to the flight instructor, he visually confirmed that each fuel tank was 1/2 full before departing on a local training flight. He estimated that he had approximately 2 hours of flying time, based on the quantity of fuel in the tanks. The flight departed, flew approximately one hour, and returned to the airport. The student was executing touch-and-go landings, and on the fourth takeoff/climb, as the airplane turned crosswind, the engine began to 'sputter.' The flight instructor assumed control of the airplane and aligned it with runway 13. After the airplane had overflown 1/2 of the 3,601-foot runway, he advanced the throttle to see if the engine would respond. The engine responded, and he initiated a climb to set up for another landing. As the instructor turned the airplane back toward runway 31, the engine lost total power. The airplane came to rest 0.5 miles north of the approach end of runway 31. The FAA inspector, who examined the airplane, stated that both fuel tanks contained residual fuel only.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fuel exhaustion as a result of the flight instructor's failure to refuel the airplane. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/1/1999
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City BEAUMONT
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77701
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BEAUMONT MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BMT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 130
Airport Elevation 32
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1418 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 170
Weather Observation Facility ID BPT
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 704
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1179
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 3 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 9:57AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7833X
NTSB Number FTW00LA023
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 172B
Aircraft Series Identifier 172B
Aircraft Serial Number 17248333
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Oct 5 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 2290
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DONALD LEWIS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 455 KEITH ROAD
Aircraft Owner City BEAUMONT
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77713
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code BMT
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1500
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 Jan 10 2001 12:27PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 3601
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --