Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pace Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ridegway, Virginia 24148
Tuesady, October 7, 2003 19:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had completed a pre-flight inspection, and visually checked both fuel tanks, which were full. However, several witnesses reported that the airplane had been flown for 1-hour and 20-minutes prior to this flight with the fuel selector positioned to the left tank, and was not refueled. On the day of the accident, the pilot departed with the fuel selector still positioned to the left tank, and performed several take-offs and landings. About 35-minutes into the flight, during climb-out, the engine sputtered. The pilot pumped the throttle, and got a momentary gain in engine power, followed by a complete loss of power. He instructed the passenger to switch the fuel selector from the left tank to the right tank, but the airplane descended rapidly into trees. Examination of the airplane revealed that approximately 1-quart of fuel remained in the left tank, and a substantial amount of fuel remained in the right tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper pre-flight planning, which resulted in an engine failure due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ridegway |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24148 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363507N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0795338W |
| Event Location Airport | Pace Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VA02 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 800 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1902 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MTV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 941 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | 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) | 16099 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1953 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Richmond FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2370N |
| NTSB Number | IAD04CA002 |
| 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 | 140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12619 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1450 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 3178 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas Pace |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ridegway |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24148 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VA02 |
| Departure City | Ridegway |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 11 2006 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |