Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mountain Home, Texas 78058
Friday, September 17, 2004 18:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 375-hour private pilot, before leaving Kerrville Municipal Airport, asked the line crew to "top off" the fuel tanks. The line crew indicated they had filled both tanks, but the pilot did not visually check the fuel level before departure. On the return flight from Lampasas Airport, while near Mountain Home, Texas and at approximately 2,800 feet above ground level, the engine briefly ran rough and then lost power. The pilot observed that the fuel gages were "one needles width above empty", and attempted to restart the engine. When the engine failed to start, the pilot elected to land in a freshly planted field. The pilot touched down and the initial landing roll were uneventful, but the nose gear subsequently collapsed and the airplane nosed over coming to rest inverted. The fuel system and engine were examined after the wreckage was recovered to a secure location. The engine was successfully run for 30 minutes. No anomalies were found that could have prevented normal engine operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

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

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/17/2004
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Mountain Home
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 78058
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 300903N
Event Location Longitude 0991901W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 16714
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2005 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\HAMG
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N11418
NTSB Number FTW04CA239
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15075405
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joseph L Kenndy Enterprises LTD
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Kerrville Aviation
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Kerrville
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code T28
Departure City LAMPASAS
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ERV
Destination City KERRVILLE
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 14 2004 10:02AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --