Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Winchester Regional Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winchester, Virginia 22602
Monday, November 13, 2000 7:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot flew for 2 hours and arrived after the airport had closed. Unable to obtain fuel, and with no ground transportation available, he elected to spent the night in the airplane. He departed at 0430 the following morning, and did not obtain a pre-departure or en route weather briefing. Low clouds covered his planned destination airport. He diverted to two other nearby airports, which were also covered by low clouds, and then returned to his destination airport, which was still covered by clouds. He contacted approach control, reported that he was low on fuel, and requested vectors to a nearby VFR airport. He was vectored toward an airport; however, the engine lost power prior to reaching it. The airplane was landed in a field about 2 miles from the airport. The pilot reported that at the time of the accident it was hazy and he could see the runway. He further added that the clouds came in immediately after the accident. A FAA inspector reported the fuel tanks were empty, and there was no evidence of fuel leakage or siphoning. The pilot estimated the airplane had been flown about 5 1/2 hours since the last refueling.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to obtain a pre-departure or en route weather briefing, which led to fuel exhaustion, after his destination and alternate airports were covered by fog. A factor was the fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/13/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 750 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WINCHESTER |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22602 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | WINCHESTER REGIONAL ARPT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OKV |
| 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 | 120 |
| Airport Elevation | 727 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 801 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 727 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1137 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 13 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 10 2001 4:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2843Q |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA036 |
| 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 | 172L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17259834 |
| 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 | Jun 9 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 2036 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT R. VERRILL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | BANGOR |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04401 |
| 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 | DYL |
| Departure City | DOYLESTOWN |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FRR |
| Destination City | FRONT ROYAL |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2002 4:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |