Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Melbourne Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Melbourne, Florida 32901
Wednesday, February 8, 1989 17:51 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE ACFT WAS BEING FERRIED TO MELBOURNE BY A CONTRACTOR TO THE US MARSHALS SERVICE. BEFORE DEPARTURE INSPECTION AND ENGINE RUN-UP REVEALED A 500-600 RPM MAGNETO DROP; THE LEFT TANK WAS 3/4 FULL AND THE RIGHT TANK HAD APPROX 15 GALLONS OF FUEL, ACCORDING TO GAUGES. THE PLT HAD WORK DONE THAT REDUCED THE MAG DROP TO 200-250 RPM. THE PLT REPORTED THAT WHILE ON A 3-MILE FINAL TO RWY 4 AT MELBOURNE, THE ENGINE QUIT. HE SAID HE SWITCHED THE SELECTOR TO THE OTHER TANK. THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES AND THE GROUND DURING A FORCED LANDING. THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS FOUND IN THE LEFT TANK POSITION. NO FUEL SYSTEM LEAKS WERE EVIDENT. FURTHER EXAMINATION REVEALED 3 OZ OF FUEL IN THE RT TANK; THE LEFT TANK CONTAINED 25 GALLONS BUT APPEARED TO BE 3/4 FULL. THE RT FUEL GAUGE WAS ACCURATE AND THE LEFT READ LOW WHEN TESTED. THE RT MAG DROP WAS 700 RPM DRG A TEST-RUN. THE RT MAG IMPULSE SPRING WAS BROKEN, ALLOWING INTERNAL TIMING TO VARY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ACCURATELY DETERMINE FUEL QUANTITY PRIOR TO DEPARTURE FOLLOWED BY HIS FAILURE TO OPERATE THE ENGINE ON THE FULLEST FUEL TANK RESULTING IN A FUEL TANK BEING RUN DRY RESULTING IN ENGINE FAILURE WHILE ON SHORT FINAL APPROACH AT HIS DESTINATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1751 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | MELBOURNE |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32901 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MELBOURNE REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MLB |
| 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 | 33 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MLB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | 200 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 8 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1945 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38519 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81859 |
| NTSB Number | MIA89GA082 |
| 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 | T210L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T210L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21060301 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 6 1986 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1639 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES R. PEELER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 566 |
| Aircraft Owner City | FORT PIERCE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33454 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | STAMBAUGH'S AIR SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 566 |
| Operator City | FORT PIERCE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33454 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FPR |
| Departure City | FORT PIERCE |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1728 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MLB |
| Destination City | MELBOURNE |
| Destination State | FL |
| 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 | 4 |
| Runway Length | 3002 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |