Zanesville Municipal Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Zanesville, Ohio 43701
Tuesady, November 28, 2000 12:45 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was ferrying the airplane with the landing gear locked down. During the descent for landing, with the right auxiliary fuel tank selected, the engine lost power. The pilot switched tanks and pumped the throttle, but was unable to get the engine started, and landed off airport in a field. Examination revealed the right auxiliary fuel tank, the fuel lines to the fuel control unit, and the fuel injection manifold were absent of fuel. Useable fuel was found in the other three fuel tanks. When the auxiliary fuel pump was turned on, fuel flowed to the fuel control unit. The flight manual stated that the auxiliary fuel tanks were for use in level flight only, and if a fuel tank was run dry, you needed to switch to a tank with fuel and turn on the auxiliary fuel pump to low. The pilot reported that he was aware of the procedure to turn on the auxiliary fuel pump, but after he changed fuel tanks, he had to focus his attention on flying the airplane and to the immanent forced landing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow the restart procedures published in the approved flight manual(AFM). Factors were his failure to follow the fuel management procedures published in the AFM, which resulted in fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/28/2000
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City ZANESVILLE
Event State OHIO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 43701
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 ZANESVILLE MUNICIPAL ARPT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ZZV
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 8
Degrees magnetic from airport 270
Airport Elevation 900
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID ZZV
Elevation of weather observation facility 900
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2600
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) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 988
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 28 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1522
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 2 2001 2:48PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8268R
NTSB Number NYC01LA044
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bellanca
Aircraft Model 17-30A
Aircraft Series Identifier 17-30A
Aircraft Serial Number 30463
Certified Max Gross Weight 3325
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 26 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6
Airframe Hours 2209
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RONALD C. TOPPE
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City ROCKFORD
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 61114
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) Ferry
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RFD
Departure City ROCKFORD
Departure State IL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1010
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ZZV
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 31 2002 4:14PM
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 --