Hartwood Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hartwood, Virginia 22471
Friday, October 18, 2002 15:12 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Approximately 1 hour into flight, the engine lost all power, and the pilot attempted a forced landing to a field. During the landing, the airplane struck a tree located at the approach end of the field. The pilot initially reported that he departed with 2 inches of fuel in each tank, with the intention of flying 1 hour. The pilot subsequently stated that he had departed with 23 gallons of fuel. Examination of the airplane revealed that there was no fuel in either fuel tank.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/18/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1512
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Hartwood
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 22471
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 382904N
Event Location Longitude 0773646W
Event Location Airport Hartwood
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 8W
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 390
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1455 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID HEF
Elevation of weather observation facility 192
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.16
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13516
NTSB Notification Source EROC
NTSB Notification Date Oct 18 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1630
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2003 9:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Dulles, VA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2718G
NTSB Number NYC03LA009
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 182B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 52018
Certified Max Gross Weight 2650
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 5 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 65
Airframe Hours 5375
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lorna C Brignolia
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City McLean
Aircraft Owner State VA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 22102
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Hartwood Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Hartwood
Operator State VA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 22406
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 8W8
Departure City Somerville
Departure State VA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1412
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 8W8
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 19 2003 3:50PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 35
Runway Length 2470
Runway Width 35
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --