Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chatom, Alabama 36518
Sunday, August 27, 2000 10:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had visually inspected the fuel tanks, and had 1 hour and 30 minutes of fuel remaining. In one statement the pilot said he had 15 gallons of fuel on board, and in another statement, he said that that he had 17 gallons of fuel on board. The pilot said that he and two passengers had departed at 09:30 AM, on a low level sight seeing flight, and at 10:25 AM the aircraft's engine started to operate at reduced power. He said the engine did not completely cease operating, but did not generate enough power to stay airborne. He said he tried to reach a field to make an emergency landing, but did not have enough altitude to reach it, so he selected a road, but clipped the power line with the left main gear, and hit two trees with each wing, during the forced landing. According to the FAA inspector, one of the passengers, who is also an FAA licensed mechanic assisted him in the postaccident examination, and they found a small amount of fuel, and a half teaspoonful of dirt in the damaged gascolator. The inspector also said that they found a small amount of fuel in the carburetor when it was examined. The inspector said that aircraft documentation revealed that the aircraft had a fuel capacity of 44 gallons, of which 4 is unusable. The mechanic/passenger said that based on what he experienced during the flight, as well during the postaccident examination of the aircraft, he believes that they ran out of fuel, and that during the examination they found a maximum of 4 to 5 gallons of fuel on the aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper preflight planning/decision and failure to ensure an adequate supply of fuel to safely complete the flight to his destination with adequate fuel reserves, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, subsequent engine failure, and a forced landing during, which the aircraft incurred substantial damage.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/27/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | CHATOM |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36518 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 959 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MOB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 219 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 89 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 72 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11102 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Atl Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 27 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1235 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 28 2001 7:25AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2982T |
| NTSB Number | MIA00LA253 |
| 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 | Aero Commander |
| Aircraft Model | 100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 103 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2250 |
| 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 | Aug 22 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 2158 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JON HANKINS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6640 LEE ROY JORDAN RD S |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEMMES |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36587 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AL94 |
| Departure City | WILMER |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4R3 |
| Destination City | JACKSON |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 11 2001 4:45AM |
| 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 | -- |