Magnolia Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Magnolia, Arkansas 71754
Tuesady, April 13, 2004 19:20 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 288-hour pilot was on a cross country flight and landed at an airport to purchase fuel. Upon landing he noticed "that everything was shut down for the day." The pilot talked with a man in the terminal building, who informed him that he would have to wait about an hour for fuel service and he would have to pay a $30.00 "call-out" fee. He elected to fly to another airport about 20 miles away to purchase fuel. Before departing, the pilot performed a preflight inspection for the airplane, which included a visual inspection of both fuel tanks. He grabbed a broom from the back of a fuel truck and "stuck it in the fuel tank to check the level better." The left tank was just under 1/2-full, and the right tank was about 1/4-full. Approximately 10 miles from the airport the engine stopped producing power and the pilot landed in a field. Examination of the airplane revealed both fuel tanks were intact and empty. There was no evidence of a fuel spill or leak, and no mechanical deficiencies were noted. The pilot reported that he had made fuel stops along his route of flight. Examination of fueling records revealed the pilot had purchased 23.16 gallons at one stop a few days before the accident and 21.4 gallons on the day of the accident. The airplane was equipped with two standard fuel tanks, one in each wing. The total fuel capacity was 26 gallons (13 gallons each tank), and the total usable fuel capacity was 22.5 gallons (11.25 gallons each tank). In addition, the pilot told a law enforcement official at the accident site that he had run out of fuel.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper pre-flight planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/13/2004
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1920
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Magnolia
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 71754
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331340N
Event Location Longitude 0931300W
Event Location Airport Magnolia Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AGO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 7
Degrees magnetic from airport 90
Airport Elevation 880
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID ELD
Elevation of weather observation facility 880
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16281
NTSB Notification Source LIT FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Apr 13 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2049
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Littelrock FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5628E
NTSB Number FTW04LA116
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 150
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17138
Certified Max Gross Weight 1225
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 Mar 5 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 22.5
Airframe Hours 4886
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ed Green
Aircraft Owner Street Address 8712 County Road 2412
Aircraft Owner City Quinlan
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75474
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 No
Departure Airport Code ELD
Departure City El Dorado
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1900
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code AGO
Destination City Magnolia
Destination State AR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 29 2004 10:57AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --