Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Smyrna Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Smyrna, Tennessee 37167
Monday, November 29, 2004 5:11 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot stated he visually checked the fuel tanks before departing on the VFR flight and fuel was present in the fuel tanks. He could not remember what time he departed. While turning from base to final at his destination airport the engine quit. He switched the fuel tanks and attempted a restart which was unsuccessful. The airplane cleared trees at the approach end of the runway and collided with the ground. The nose gear separated, the airplane continued forward, and collided with the airport fence. Examination of the crash site revealed the left and right fuel tanks were not ruptured. No fuel was present in either fuel tank. The airplane was recovered to an airport hangar and the left and right fuel sumps were drained. One fourth of a gallon of fuel was removed from the left fuel tank drain. No fuel was recovered from the right fuel tank drain. A support brace was placed under the airplane. The engine was started and the engine ran at idle power for 3 minutes before the engine lost power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning of fuel required for the flight, and his inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 511 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Smyrna |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37167 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353314N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0871044W |
| Event Location Airport | Smyrna Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MQY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 543 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 650 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 32 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MQY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 543 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| 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) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -645 |
| 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) | 17397 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 29 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 725 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N78402 |
| NTSB Number | ATL05LA031 |
| 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 | 172K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17257603 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| 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 | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jerry L. Darnell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16877 Lakeport Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carlinville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63369 |
| 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 | MRC |
| Departure City | Columbia |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MQY |
| Destination City | Smyrna |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 8036 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |