Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Charleston Intern Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Charleston, South Carolina 29418
Monday, January 10, 2005 19:37 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Forty seconds after takeoff, the pilot radioed that he had an emergency and was banking the airplane hard to the left to return to runway 21. Controllers informed the pilot that runway 21 was not cleared and that he could land on runway 33. The airplane collided with the ground between runways 21 and 33. Examination of the aircraft revealed the left hand fuel selector was found selected to the main tank position and approximately one-quart of fuel was drained from this tank. Three gallons are considered unusable. The right hand fuel selector was found selected to the auxiliary fuel tank position. At least five gallons of fuel was found in that tank. Neither the left main nor the right auxiliary tanks were breached. The airplane was fitted with tip tanks installed under a Supplemental Type Certificate. The tip tank switches located on the instrument panel, were found in the auxiliary or off position. The tip tanks were found breached and fire damaged. The airplane's flight manual calls for takeoff and landing to be made on the main fuel tanks only. The post-accident examination of the airframe and subsystems failed to disclose any mechanical problems or component failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight and mismanagement of the fuel supply, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/10/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1937 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Charleston |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29418 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325343N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800226W |
| Event Location Airport | Charleston Intern Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CHS |
| 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 | 46 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1947 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CHS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 46 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -292 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19103 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 10 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2006 12:35PM |
| 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 | N7654Y |
| NTSB Number | ATL05FA043 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-732 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3725 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 12 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3335.82 |
| Airframe Hours | 3382.63 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | G.J. Air LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5112 Tinston Ct |
| Aircraft Owner City | Summerville |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29485 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Archie Theadore Simpson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1818 Pineland Dr. |
| Operator City | Johns Island |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29455 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CHS |
| Departure City | Charleston |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1937 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DYB |
| Destination City | Summerville |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2005 2:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 7000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |