Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mc Ghee Tyson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Knoxville, Tennessee 37920
Wednesday, March 10, 2004 9:57 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the certified flight instructor, approximately 3 miles from the destination airport the engine began to "sputter", and then quit. The certified flight instructor offered to take control of the airplane to make the forced landing but the private pilot said he felt comfortable making the forced landing. The certified flight instructor allow the private pilot to make the forced landing in a open field. During the forced landing the airplane collided with a berm. The pilot's did not report any flight control anomalies prior to the accident. Examination of the airplane revealed the propeller was bent aft, the nose wheel broke off at the strut, and the fuselage was buckled. Examination of the fuel system revealed a small trace of fuel was found in the left and right fuel tanks, and no blockage was noted in the fuel lines. Review of the Cessna pilots operating handbook revealed in Section 7: the total usable fuel in standard configuration is 40 gallons with 3 gallons unusable. In long range configuration 50 gallons usable, and 4 gallons unusable.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The CFI's inadequate in-flight planning/decision and his inadequate supervision which resulted in fuel exhaustion. A factor was the inadequate preflight planning/preparation to ensure an adequate fuel supply, and the berm.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/10/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 957 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Knoxville |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37920 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 355308N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0835727W |
| Event Location Airport | MC GHEE TYSON |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TYS |
| 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 | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 981 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| 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) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -297 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17536 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| 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 | Nashville FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6257F |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA082 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17273175 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 17 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 8 |
| Airframe Hours | 5400 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EAST TENNESSEE PILOTS CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3535 ALCOA HIGHWAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | Knonxville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37920 |
| 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 | PFN |
| Departure City | PANAMA CITY |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TYS |
| Destination City | KNOXVILLE |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |