Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Columbia Metropolitan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbia, South Carolina 29170
Tuesady, November 2, 2004 19:41 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot declared a "mayday" 17 miles northeast of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, at 4,500 feet and stated that his engine had lost power and that he was going to land in a parking lot. The airplane collided with power lines and the ground. The post-accident examination of the fuel system revealed no fuel in either wing fuel tank, trace amounts of fuel in the fuel strainer, and trace amounts of fuel in the fuel line from the fuel strainer to the carburetor. A functional check of the engine was accomplished and it produced power at idle and 1000 RPM. The airplane was last topped off with fuel on October 31, 2004, and had flown 4.1 hours since that refueling. On the same day of the accident the pilot also completed a total of three takeoffs on the same fuel load. At 75 % engine power, the airplane has an endurance of 3.9 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning of fuel required for the flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/2/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1941 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Columbia |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29170 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335633N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0810717W |
| Event Location Airport | Columbia Metropolitan Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KCAE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 16 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1956 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CAE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 200 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19848 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 2 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2015 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| 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 | N4874G |
| NTSB Number | ATL05CA019 |
| 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 | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17273421 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 27 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5083.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pegasus Air, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 109 Airport Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Statesboro |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30461 |
| 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 | Statesboro |
| Operator State | GA |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IGX |
| Departure City | Chapel Hill |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1810 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CAE |
| Destination City | Columbia |
| 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 | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |