Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pompano Beach, Florida 33060
Thursday, October 21, 2004 17:48 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Before the start of the trip, the pilot was reportedly given $500.00 cash by the operator to purchase fuel. The pilot stated that the first leg of the flight from KFLL to MYEF departed with the main fuel tanks full and approximately 10 gallons in each of the auxiliary fuel tanks. There were no deviations en-route, and the uneventful flight lasted a reported 1 hour 40 minutes. After landing in Exuma International Airport, the main fuel tanks contained slightly more than 1/2 fuel capacity. Ten gallons of fuel were added to each of the two auxiliary fuel tanks at MYEF, no additional fuel was purchased. The flight departed for KFLL, and during the climb to 10,000 feet, he leaned the fuel/air mixture. During the cruise portion of the flight, the fuel in the auxiliary fuel tanks was consumed then he switched to the main fuel tanks to supply fuel to the engines. The flight crossed the DEKAL intersection at 4,000 feet, which is about 31 nautical miles southeast of KFLL, continued, and the right engine manifold pressure decreased, the cylinder head temperature reached red line indication, and the engine sputtered. He declared an emergency with air traffic control and the controller provided vectors to KFLL which he verbally acknowledged but did not comply with. While operating single engine, with the engine operating at full power, he reported no discrepancies with the left engine. He reported he could reach KFLL but was concerned about flying over a populated area at a low altitude, and was losing altitude. Contrary to the statement made by the pilot that he was not able to maintain altitude while flying single-engine, the airplane was capable of a rate of climb greater than 170 feet-per-minute if flown properly. He elected to ditch the airplane in the Atlantic Ocean; the airplane was not recovered. The operator was asked repeatedly by NTSB for historical fuel receipts and flight hours for N61518 but did not comply. NTSB review of fuel consumption calculations performed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector-In-Charge revealed the aircraft would have experienced fuel exhaustion at the approximate location and time when the pilot declared an emergency with ATC following failure of the right engine. The NTSB did not receive the NTSB requested detailed, signed, dated statement from the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power in one engine. Contributing factors were the pilot's inadequate handling of the aircraft following failure of the right engine for his failure to extract maximum single engine performance, and his failure to properly refuel the aircraft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/21/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1748
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Pompano Beach
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33060
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 261310N
Event Location Longitude 0795201W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KPMP
Elevation of weather observation facility 19
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.87
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17798
NTSB Notification Source Channel 6 News
NTSB Notification Date Oct 21 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1810
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 8 2005 12:51PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N61518
NTSB Number MIA05LA011
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-31-350
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 31-7552022
Certified Max Gross Weight 7368
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Oct 18 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3.4
Airframe Hours 19269.9
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Clayton I. Gamber
Aircraft Owner Street Address 116 Stardust Lane
Aircraft Owner City Hendersonville
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 28791
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Twin Town Leasing Company, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 498 SW 34 Street
Operator City Fort Lauderdale
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33315
Operator Code EYLA
Owner has at least one certificate --
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MYEF
Departure City Moss Town
Departure State --
Departure Country BF
Departure Time 1611
Departure Time Zone AST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KFLL
Destination City Fort Lauderdale
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Other
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Apr 4 2005 1:26PM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
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 --