Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
High Springs, Florida 32643
Sunday, November 18, 2001 13:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the aircraft was in cruise flight at an altitude of 7,000 feet, when all of a sudden the engine ceased operating. He further stated that he then engaged the fuel boost pump, and switched to the left fuel tank, and engine power was restored, but about 10 seconds after power had been restored, the engine ceased operating again. He said he again switched tanks, but the engine failed to operate a second time, and he ended up making a forced landing to a field. The pilot later stated to the NTSB that the reason the engine ceased operating was due to fuel exhaustion. According to the pilot, his wife, a passenger on the flight, had ordered fuel at Shelby County Airport in Alabaster, Alabama, prior to them departing on the flight, but the fuel had not been provided. In addition, an employee at the Shelby County Airport stated that fuel had been ordered for N6753U, but the linesman had forgotten the order, and that no fuel had been placed in the accident aircraft's fuel tanks, as was requested. An FAA Inspector who conducted a postaccident examination of the aircraft, said that during his investigation of the accident aircraft, he found no breaches to fuel system, and that all aircraft fuel tanks were "bone dry."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper preflight planning/preparation and failure to ensure sufficient fuel was available to complete the flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a forced landing, and damage to the aircraft when it collided with a fence during the landing rollout.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1310 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | High Springs |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32643 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GNV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 152 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1600 |
| 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) | 11517 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 18 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1440 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2002 1:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6753U |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA020 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2475 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Mar 23 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 121 |
| Airframe Hours | 3487 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David J. Gentry |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1080 Somerset Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Birmingham |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35242 |
| 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 | EET |
| Departure City | Alabaster |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 940 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GNV |
| Destination City | Gainesville |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | UY |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2002 12:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |