Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Burlington, North Carolina 27216
Tuesady, February 13, 1990 18:30 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT TRANSMITTED ON UNICOM THAT HE WAS ON FINAL FOR 24. FOLLOWING A DOUBLE FUEL STARVATION POWER LOSS THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED NOSE LOW WITH TREES AND TERRAIN ABOUT 2.6 MILES FROM RUNWAY 24. LAST FUELING OCCURRED ON THE PREVIOUS DAY AT ALBERMARLE, NC, THE PILOT'S PRIMARY SOURCE OF FUEL, 50 MILES FROM BURLINGTON. THE FLIGHT PROCEEDED TO BURLINGTON, TETERBORO, AND WAS RETURNING TO BURLINGTON. TOTAL ESTIMATED FLIGHT TIME WAS 4 HOURS 32 MINUTES. FUEL BURN WAS CALCULATED TO BE 361 GALLONS. USABLE FUEL WAS 384 GALLONS AND 24 GALLONS WERE RECOVERED FROM THE RIGHT CENTER TANK. IF THE FUEL TRANSFER PUMP DOES NOT OPERATE 28 GALLONS WILL BE UNUSABLE. THAT PUMP WAS FOUND IN THE OFF POSITION. NO FUEL SPILLAGE OCCURRED AT THE SCENE. ON 2/8/90 THE PILOT PURCHASED 361 GALLONS OF FUEL FOR N110LT. LOWER FUEL PRICES AT THE FAVORED LOCATION WERE THE PILOT'S REASON FOR FUELING THERE. EXAMINATION OF ENGINES, PROPELLERS, FUEL PUMPS, AND OTHER RELATIVE COMPONENTS DID NOT REVEAL ANY SIGNIFICANT DISCREPANCY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE DOUBLE ENGINE POWER LOSS DUE TO FUEL STARVATION, THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROCEDURES AND DIRECTIVES BY NOT ENGAGING THE RIGHT FUEL TRANSFER PUMP, AND THE INADVERTENT STALL DURING THE FORCED LANDING APPROACH. A FACTOR WAS THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO REFUEL BEFORE ADEQUATE FUEL RESERVES WERE EXHAUSTED.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/13/1990
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1830
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City BURLINGTON
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 27216
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 2
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 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 616
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 1830
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Dusk
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) 25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2171
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 13 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1849
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 44568
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 4:46PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N110LT
NTSB Number FTW90FA069
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BEECH
Aircraft Model C-90
Aircraft Series Identifier C-90
Aircraft Serial Number LJ-729
Certified Max Gross Weight 9650
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 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Nov 1 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 154
Airframe Hours 5976
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HOLT MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2208 AIRPARK DR. ANTHONY RD.
Aircraft Owner City BURLINGTON
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 27216
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) Executive/Corporate
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code TEB
Departure City TETERBORO
Departure State NJ
Departure Country
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
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 --