Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic Ocean
Wednesday, July 3, 2002 14:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had 55 gallons of fuel on the airplane, when he departed Spruce Creek Airport. He said he determined the fuel quantity based on the fuel level with respect to the metal tab in the tank, and that he flew the airplane to Daytona Beach International Airport, where he loaded passengers and baggage, and then flew to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas. The pilot further stated that the flight was longer than planned because a waypoint had not been entered in the GPS unit, and he flew past Marsh Harbour, and as a result, when he landed, he refueled in Marsh Harbour, putting 10 gallons of fuel in the fuel tank. According to the pilot, he operated the airplane at about 65 % power with the rpms between 2350 and 2400, the manifold pressure at 32 inches of Hg, and that the winds were minimal for both the flight to, and the flight from Marsh Harbour. He said that about 10 to 12 miles from the shore, while on the return flight from Marsh Harbour the engine ceased operating and he ditched the airplane in the Atlantic Ocean. The owner said that the airplane had 50 gallons of fuel on board when it departed Spruce Creek Airport, and that the pilot's fuel consumption calculations were erroneous, with fuel consumption for the airplane at best economy cruise and best power being about 13.5 gals/hour, and 14.5 gals/hr respectively. The owner further stated that the pilot did not anticipate the additional 23% fuel that he needed to complete the flight. Information obtained from FAA Miami Air Traffic Control showed that at 1434:21, a communications transmission was made to ATC during which the person stated, "We are out of fuel."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper planning/decision and insufficient refueling which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the aircraft being ditched in the ocean.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/3/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atlantic Ocean |
| Event State | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 271700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0795900W |
| 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 | 1453 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 17 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1100 |
| 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) | 12211 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm.Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 3 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2239 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4561W |
| NTSB Number | MIA02LA126 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Rockwell International |
| Aircraft Model | 112TC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 13051 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2850 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 7 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 2233 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alpha Aircraft Sales & Leasing INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Rd Ste 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYAM |
| Departure City | Marsh Harbor |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | BF |
| Departure Time | 1310 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FPR |
| Destination City | Fort Pierce |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 7 2002 12:18PM |
| 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 | -- |