Pike County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Paintsville, Kentucky 41240
Monday, April 30, 2001 18:50 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that on the day of the accident, he flew between 5-6 hours, but estimated an endurance of 7 hours based on full tanks at the economy cruise setting. During his fourth flight of the day, the engine lost all power. The pilot told the passenger that he thought he was out of fuel, and performed a forced landing into a cornfield. The pilot added that before he departed on his first flight of the day, he instructed the fixed based operator to completely fuel the airplane. Subsequently, during the preflight inspection, both tanks appeared to be full. However, the manager of the fixed based operator stated that prior to the accident pilot arriving at the airport, the airplane was flown 1.2 hours by a different pilot. After that flight, the airplane was not refueled before the accident pilot departed. The manager believed the accident pilot departed with 76 gallons of fuel, instead of the 88-gallon useable capacity.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the aircraft, which resulted in fuel exhaustion during cruise flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/30/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1850
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Paintsville
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 41240
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Pike County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PBX
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 15
Degrees magnetic from airport 330
Airport Elevation 1472
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1856 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID JKL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1382
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.21
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11037
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 30 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 27 2001 11:26AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Louisville, KY

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N129V
NTSB Number NYC01LA112
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182Q
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18267444
Certified Max Gross Weight 3110
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 Mar 14 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 17
Airframe Hours 8651
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kentucky Airmotive Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 709 Airport Road
Aircraft Owner City Mount Sterling
Aircraft Owner State KY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 40353
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) Aerial Observation
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PBX
Departure City Pike County
Departure State KY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1630
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code PBX
Destination City Paintsville
Destination State KY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Descent - emergency
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 22 2001 12:48PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --