Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Haverford Twp., Pennsylvania 19083
Wednesday, October 4, 2000 22:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated he departed with about 7 or 8 gallons of fuel on board; however, he was not certain how long he had been in flight. The pilot reported the airplane 'ran out of gas' while searching for an airport at night, and he performed a forced landing into trees. The airplane came to rest about 150 feet into a quarry and was not recovered. The airplane's last annual inspection was about 13 months prior to the accident. The pilot's most recent Federal Aviation Administration medical certificate was dated about 13 years prior to the accident. He reported 200 hours of total flight experience at that time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Also causal was the pilot's inability to locate the airport. A factor in this accident was the dark night conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/4/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2200
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City HAVERFORD TWP.
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 19083
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 10
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 1000 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 295
Weather Observation Facility ID PHL
Elevation of weather observation facility 38
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
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 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 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 985
NTSB Notification Source FAA Eastern Region OPS CTR
NTSB Notification Date Oct 4 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 28
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 2 2001 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N704ST
NTSB Number NYC01LA003
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 150M
Aircraft Series Identifier 150M
Aircraft Serial Number 15078844
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 8 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 1495
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LEVI ROBINSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City WEST CHESTER
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19380
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 N99
Departure City WEST CHESTER
Departure State PA
Departure Country
Departure Time 2000
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code N57
Destination City TOUGHKENAMON
Destination State PA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 14 2001 4:03AM
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 --