Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Port Royal, Virginia 22535
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 14:31 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed into instrument meteorological conditions and initially encountered icing at 5,000 feet. He then descended the airplane to 3,000 feet, where about 30 minutes later the engine experienced roughness. After an application of carburetor heat, the engine smoothed and the pilot continued the flight. About 1 hour later, and at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the pilot noted the presence of mist, and that the temperature was slightly above freezing, and activated the pitot heat. Shortly thereafter the engine suddenly "quit," and the pilot performed a forced landing to a highway. During the landing rollout, both wings struck signs next to the highway and the airplane then veered off the highway and into a median. Following the accident, FAA inspectors asked the pilot to start the engine, and it ran for 30 seconds at idle rpm, until the pilot shut it down. During the recovery process, about 2 gallons of fuel were drained from the fuel tanks, and no indications could be found that either fuel tank had been compromised during the accident. The pilot stated that prior to the accident flight, he determined the amount of fuel onboard the airplane by estimating the fuel consumed on the previous flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning which resulted in fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/16/2005
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1431
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Port Royal
Event State VIRGINIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 22535
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381005N
Event Location Longitude 0771227W
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1421 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 350
Weather Observation Facility ID EZF
Elevation of weather observation facility 85
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 12000
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) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17969
NTSB Notification Source EROC
NTSB Notification Date Mar 16 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1745
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2005 10:33AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Richmond FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N64986
NTSB Number IAD05LA045
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15281513
Certified Max Gross Weight 1650
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 11 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 4455.9
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gregory C. Dash
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Oxon Hill
Aircraft Owner State MD
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 20745
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RDU
Departure City Raleigh/Durham
Departure State NC
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code W32
Destination City Clinton
Destination State MD
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 2 2005 10:29AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
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 --