Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lake Wales Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Wales, Florida 32124
Saturday, March 10, 2001 10:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While on final approach to land on runway 6, 100 feet above the ground and 1/4 mile from touchdown, both engines lost power. The pilot attempted a forced landing in a pasture. During the forced landing, the main landing gear was torn from the airframe, and the airplane sustained major structural damage. Examination revealed the airplane's engines failed due to fuel starvation. The pilot did not report any component failure before his forced landing in the field. He had flown only approximately three hours before experiencing a loss of power on both engines. He used the fuel from the auxiliary fuel tanks en route to the destination airport and switched the fuel selectors to the main tanks on final approach. Both the descent and before landing checklists require that the pilot switch the fuel selectors to the main fuel tanks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the descent and before landing checklist that resulted in fuel starvation to both engines and the subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/10/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LAKE WALES |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32124 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Wales |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X07 |
| 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 | 60 |
| Airport Elevation | 126 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BOW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 7 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13882 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 12 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | ORLANDO FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8472N |
| NTSB Number | ATL01LA038 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TE-577 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5340 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 5500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMAS M. AUSTIN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 129 NORTH BRIDGE STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | JONESVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28642 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | ZEF |
| Departure City | ELKIN |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 710 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | X07 |
| Destination City | LAKE WALES |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2001 2:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 06 |
| Runway Length | 3999 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |