Hamilton Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salisbury Ctr, New York 13454
Thursday, March 28, 2002 17:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot had been airborne for over 2 hours when he attempted to return to his departure airport. He reported that he set the course selector on the VOR receiver to 330 degrees, for the 26 NM return flight to his departure airport. However, the airplane appeared to track on a heading of 030 degrees. The pilot continued to track on that heading for about 70 nautical miles. By this time he realized he was lost, and noticed the airplane was low on fuel. He contacted the Buffalo Flight Service Station, (FSS), for assistance; however, they were unable to identify the airplane. The FSS asked the pilot to climb, to help in its identification. While climbing the engine began to lose power, and run rough. The FSS gave the pilot a list of procedures to check. The pilot had climbed to about 3,000 feet; however, with the loss in engine power, the airplane started to descend. Passing through about 1,500 feet, the engine shuddered and lost all power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine, and performed a forced landing into an area with scattered trees. The airplane struck a tree, and came to rest inverted. The FAA inspector reported there was no fuel in the fuel tanks, and the line between the fuel strainer bowl to the carburetor. There was no sign of a fuel leak on the airplane, and no sign of a fuel spill at the accident site. The pilot stated that he did not lean the mixture during the entire flight that lasted about 3 hours. The VOR receiver was found tuned to the 030 degree radial.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's delayed decision to ask for help which led to a power loss due to fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/28/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Salisbury Ctr
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 13454
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 431645N
Event Location Longitude 0744757W
Event Location Airport Hamilton Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID H30
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 42
Degrees magnetic from airport 60
Airport Elevation 1134
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1656 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 266
Weather Observation Facility ID UCA
Elevation of weather observation facility 742
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 27
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.05
Density Altitude (feet) -152
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) 12442
NTSB Notification Source FAA EROC
NTSB Notification Date Mar 29 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 23 2002 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albany, New York

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3006V
NTSB Number NYC02LA078
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 150M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15076348
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 267
Airframe Hours 8756
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Chenango Valley Aviation Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Hamilton
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 13346
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Hamilton
Operator State NY
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 13346
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 H30
Departure City Hamilton
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code H30
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 9 2002 2:26PM
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 --