Trenton Mercer Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Trenton, New Jersey 08628
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 12:24 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The certificated flight instructor was conducting a flight review with the commercial pilot owner in an amateur built amphibious airplane powered by an Allison 250 turboprop engine. The engine began to surge. After discussion with the flight instructor, the pilot decided to return to an airport. During the descent the engine continued to surge and eventually lost all power. About 15 feet above the grass, off of the approach end of a runway, the airplane "stalled" and experienced a hard landing. The fuel system of the airplane was composed of two main tanks each capable of holding 30 gallons which simultaneously provided fuel to the engine, two auxiliary tanks each capable of holding 30 gallons and two wingtip tanks each capable of holding 25 gallons, for a total capacity of 170 gallons of fuel. A fuel transfer valve, flow meter and fuel quantity indicator were also installed. However, the fuel quantity indicator could only show the quantity of the two left and right, main tanks, and the fuel totalizer function of the flow meter was inoperative. Following the accident it was revealed that the fuel transfer valve was in the "open" position and that about 1 gallon of fuel was present in the left main tank, approximately 11 gallons in the right main tank and 14 gallons in the right auxiliary tank. Both wingtip fuel tanks and the left auxiliary fuel tank were absent of fuel. Fuel samples taken from the airplane for examination were bright, clear, and no visible contamination or water could be observed. A check of both samples was performed using water-finding paste, and no color change was observed. A detailed examination and test cell run of the engine was conducted which did not reveal evidence of any pre-impact failures and all engine response times were within limits during the test run. During interviews, the flight instructor stated that he had been told that their was about 1 to 1.5 hours of fuel on board, and that they had been airborne only about 25 minutes when the engine lost power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper fuel management which resulted in fuel starvation and subsequent loss of engine power. A contributing factor to the accident was the pilot's inadvertent loss of airspeed.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/8/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1224
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Trenton
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 08628
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401636N
Event Location Longitude 0744848W
Event Location Airport Trenton Mercer Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TTN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 213
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KTTN
Elevation of weather observation facility 213
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 19
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 29
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17733
NTSB Notification Source FAA Philadelphia FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Dec 10 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1130
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 Philidelphia, PA.

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42HA
NTSB Number IAD05LA024
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 Hare
Aircraft Model Seawind
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 10
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Dec 5 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 0.8
Airframe Hours 244
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Nicholas Gilman PC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 600 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.
Aircraft Owner City Washington
Aircraft Owner State DC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 20003
Operator is an individual? Yes
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 39N
Departure City PRINCETON
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1159
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 39N
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 4 2005 2:41PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 6006
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --