Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lawrenceburg, Kentucky 40342
Friday, December 31, 2004 13:30 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot estimated that he departed with about 1.5 hours of fuel on board, and that the flight time to his destination airport would take about an hour. About 35 minutes after takeoff, the airplane was in cruise flight at 2,000 feet, with the fuel selector positioned to "both," when the engine began to lose power, and the pilot elected to perform a forced landing to a field. The engine completely quit about 500 feet above the ground. During the landing, the nose gear separated, the firewall buckled, and a portion of the fuselage was wrinkled. The airplane came to rest canted to the right. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. No fuel was present in the left fuel tank, and approximately 5 gallons of clean automotive gasoline was drained from the right fuel tank. In addition, there was no evidence of a fuel spill at the accident site. According to the airplane owner's manual, the fuel system included two 26 gallon aluminum fuel tanks, with a useable fuel amount of 21 gallons from each tank, "in all flight attitudes."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate pre-flight planning and in-flight planning decision, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and a subsequent forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/31/2004
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Lawrenceburg
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 40342
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 375659N
Event Location Longitude 0850849W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1354 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 250
Weather Observation Facility ID LEX
Elevation of weather observation facility 979
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 1600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.24
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 2
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18342
NTSB Notification Source FAA FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jan 1 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1200
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 13 2005 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Louisville

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8141T
NTSB Number NYC05LA036
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 175B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17556841
Certified Max Gross Weight 2350
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 34
Airframe Hours 2427
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Dick E. Stoops
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Versailles
Aircraft Owner State KY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 40383
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 BNA
Departure City Nashville
Departure State TN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1250
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FFT
Destination City Frankfort
Destination State KY
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 8 2005 1:52PM
User who most recently changed record SCHL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --