Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Clearwater Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Clearwater, Florida 33756
Tuesady, February 15, 2005 17:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A private pilot/mechanic and the airplane's owner, who was also a private pilot, were conducting a personal maintenance test flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the airplane had a loss of engine power and subsequent in-flight collision with two residences. The two occupants of the airplane received fatal injuries. There were no injuries on the ground. According to witnesses, the airplane had just departed a local, non-tower airport, and was in the initial climb phase, when it turned to the right, and then to the left, as if to return to the airport. They saw the wings rocking from side to side, and then the airplane entered a steep, nose-down attitude. A student pilot-witness said he saw the airplane flying low and slow overhead, and saw the airplane's nose go up, and then down, into a "classic stall-spin." A witness who spoke with the owner prior to takeoff, was told there was a problem with the fuel system, and they were going to conduct a maintenance test flight. The owner told him the pilot/mechanic had "blown out the fuel system" earlier that day. Additional witnesses said they saw the airplane taxi to the run-up area where it ran at high power for several minutes. They said after departure everything appeared normal until the airplane started a left turn toward the airport, which they thought was unusual. Numerous witnesses said they heard the engine "cutting in and out," as if it were "running out of gas," and eventually lost power. The airport's fuel truck operator said he had not fueled the airplane the day of the accident. At the accident site, the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) was contacted by a fireman who stated there was no postcrash fire, and that they did not find a significant amount of aviation fuel at the site. Inspection by the IIC disclosed that the airplane's four fuel tanks were breached during the impact, but there were no signs of fuel leaks, pooling of fuel on the ground, no fuel blight on the surrounding vegetation, and only a slight odor of fuel around the wreckage. An examination of the engine was conducted by the IIC and a representative of the engine's manufacturer. The intact fuel injection manifold valve and associated fuel lines were disassembled, and no fuel was present. Further examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical problems.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during initial climb due to fuel exhaustion, the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane, and the pilot's failure to maintain minimum airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and uncontrolled descent into a residence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/15/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Clearwater |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33756 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 275717N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824442W |
| Event Location Airport | Clearwater |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CLW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19622 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 15 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1750 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Orlando, FSDO-15 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3NM |
| NTSB Number | ANC05FA034 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 35-C33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CD-1001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2306 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ralph Herrlin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Clearwater |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34616 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CLW |
| Departure City | Clearwater |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1635 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2006 4:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |