Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St Lucie County Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Pierce, Florida 34981
Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:26 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, during climb-out from runway 09 at an altitude of approximately 500 feet the right engine warning red magnetic chip detector light illuminated. The pilot decided to shut down the right engine and return to the airport. Shortly after making that decision the left engine began to lose power. The airplane was unable to maintain altitude, and the pilot prepared to make an off-airport emergency landing in a field. The airplane collided with the trees as the pilot maneuvered for the emergency landing. Examination of the airframe, and flight controls revealed no anomalies. Examination of the left and right engine revealed no mechanical anomalies. Examination of cockpit fuel selector controls revealed that the left engine fuel selector handle was in the off position and the right engine fuel selector handle was set in the left tank position. During the in-flight engine secure procedures the pilot is required to place the inoperative engine fuel selector in the off position
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the pilot placing the fuel selector in the off position which resulted in fuel starvation to the left engine, after the pilot intentionally shut down the right engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/25/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1126 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fort Pierce |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34981 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 272942N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0802205W |
| Event Location Airport | ST LUCIE COUNTY INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FPR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 330 |
| Airport Elevation | 23 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1397 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17524 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 25 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N70258 |
| NTSB Number | ATL03FA147 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman |
| Aircraft Model | HU-16C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 141271 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 33500 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 22 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4276 |
| Airframe Hours | 4276 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Corsair Aviation Holdings Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2600 East Graves #3 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carson City |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89706 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FPR |
| Departure City | FORT PIERCE |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 6492 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |