Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Decatur Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Decatur, Alabama 35602
Saturday, August 6, 2005 10:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff from the Decatur Pryor Airport, in Decatur, Alabama, witnesses, observed the airplane at about 100 to 150 feet above a tree line near the crash site. The airplane was nose high and slow, and no engine sound was reported. Witnesses stated that the airplane nosed up slightly, rolled left, then pitched nose down and then collided with the ground. The airplane wreckage was located in a heavily wooded area, near a cotton field to the south of the accident site about 5.6 nautical miles southwest of the airport. On scene examination of the accident found the airplane resting on its partially extended landing gear on a 095-degree magnetic heading, with the engine in a 45-degree nose down angle. Examination of the cockpit found the fuel selector on the right fuel tank. Examination of the right fuel tank found it intact with 3 ounces of fuel remaining. There was no fuel found in the engine fuel lines or fuel pump. There were no mechanical problems reported by the pilot or discovered during the post-accident examination of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel supply, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel starvation, and subsequent inadvertent stall/spin during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/6/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Decatur |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35602 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343707N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0870306W |
| Event Location Airport | Decatur Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DCU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 592 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HSV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 629 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18882 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 6 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3468B |
| NTSB Number | ATL05FA139 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE-D35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-3694 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2700 |
| 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 | Jul 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 6553.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William W Powell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 100 Rutherford Dr |
| Aircraft Owner City | Madison |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35758 |
| 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 | DCU |
| Departure City | Decatur |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1035 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 8 2005 10:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 5096 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |