Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Knox County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Utica, Ohio 43080
Saturday, July 12, 2003 20:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he planned on a 3.2 hour flight with four legs. He departed with 32 gallons of fuel onboard and thought that it was sufficient for the flight and 30 minutes of reserve. He also reported that he based his flight planning on flying at 105 knots (120 mph); however, he used a higher power setting and the airplane cruised at 120 knots (138 mph). On the last leg, as the pilot neared his destination airport, the engine lost power and he performed an off-airport, forced landing. The pilot lost airspeed as he cleared a line of trees. He then lowered the nose, and when he tried to flare, the nose would not come up. The airplane struck the ground in a nose-low attitude, and the nosewheel "drove" into the soft terrain. The pilot reported that the power loss was due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot also reported that he did not verify the fuel quantity onboard the airplane prior to his last departure. A check of the pilot's route revealed that he flew near two airports where he could have landed and refueled prior to experiencing fuel exhaustion.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations, which resulted in fuel exhaustion. A factor was the unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Utica |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43080 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401439N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823305W |
| Event Location Airport | Knox County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4I3 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2051 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 233 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CMH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 815 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 17198 |
| NTSB Notification Source | GLOC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2220 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbus, Ohio |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N33WL |
| NTSB Number | NYC03CA156 |
| 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 | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2733 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 4050 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William C Sullivan |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Newark |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 42056 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | William C. Sullivan |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Newark |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | 6I6 |
| Departure City | Galloway |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4I3 |
| Destination City | Mt. Vernon |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2003 10:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 00 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |