Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N. Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
N. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29598
Sunday, May 30, 2004 12:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated approximately four miles from the runway, the right engine began to sputter. He stated that he attempted to restart it, and the right engine briefly produced power and then sputtered again. The pilot stated that he feathered the right propeller and "continued the approach single engine." The pilot stated that "as the approach progressed, [he] realized that [the airplane] could not maintain the glide slope... or clear a tree line ahead." The pilot stated that he committed to ditching the airplane in the waterway to the right, so he retracted the landing gear, and the airplane touched down tail low. The airplane ditched in the intracoastal waterway two miles short of runway 23 and sank in 12-20 feet of water. The post-accident examination of the airplane revealed the airframe was intact. Fuel system continuity was established from the tip tanks to the fuel strainer, and the fuel strainer and the fuel pump were intact and free of debris. When water was displaced from the engine, fuel system, and magnetos, both engines started and produced power at idle and high RPM settings. No anomalies were observed during the engine run. The pilot of a flight in the airplane on the previous day stated that upon returning to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, there were about 58-60 gallons of fuel on board the airplane. He further stated that the airplane was not refueled that evening or prior to the accident flight on May 30, 2004. According to the 1955 Cessna 310 owner's manual, the main fuel wingtip fuel tanks have a capacity of 102 gallons, of which 100 gallons are usable fuel and two gallons are unusable.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight/planning and his in-flight decision which resulted in the loss of power in one engine due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/30/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | N. Myrtle Beach |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29598 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334842N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784326W |
| Event Location Airport | N. Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KCRE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 50 |
| Airport Elevation | 32 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1210 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCRE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 32 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17880 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 1 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N361Z |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA123 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 35157 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4600 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 6 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5663 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Atlanta Flight Time, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 972 Oak St., SW |
| Aircraft Owner City | Atlanta |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 303317973 |
| 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 | Atlanta |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30310 |
| 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 | KPDK |
| Departure City | Chamblee |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KCRE |
| Destination City | N. Myrtle Beach |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 22 2005 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 5996 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |