Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Kay Larkin Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Palatka, Florida 32177
Saturday, December 24, 2005 15:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had planned a cross country flight from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to Ocala, Florida, with 2 fuel stops along the route. During the flight to the second fuel stop, the engine lost fuel pressure, and the airplane impacted trees during a forced landing on a road. Seven days before the accident flight, the airplane was topped off with fuel, and was flown in the area for about a 15 minute flight. The flight departed at about 0720, they landed at the first fuel stop at about 0920, and refueled the airplane with 20 gallons of fuel. He estimated that he had a total of 45 gallons of usable fuel on board for the flight to the second fuel stop. He stated that he would make a decision after 2 hours into the flight to determine if they would require a stop for fuel before reaching the second fuel stop, at a fuel consumption of 10 gallons per hour. He forecasted the flight to be 4 hours. Twenty minutes into the flight to the second fuel stop, they stopped at the Moore County Airport for a restroom stop, and departed at about 1130. During the engine run-up check for departure, he noted that he failed to reset the timer to monitor the fuel when he departed the first fuel stop. He reset the timer and made a mental note to include approximately 30 minutes extra when figuring the fuel status en route. At about 1530, about 12 miles from the second fuel stop, the pilot noted a loss of fuel pressure. He switched tanks, turned on the fuel pump, enriched the fuel mixture, and about 2 minutes later the fuel pressure was lost again. He advised Jacksonville Approach Control of his intentions to land on a road or in a field. A road was located and he glided the airplane to land. He noticed a gate along the landing path and maneuvered the airplane over the gate. As the airplane came back down, the left wing struck trees resulting in the airplane rotating counter clockwise before coming to a stop. He and the passenger exited the airplane, and called Flight Service to advise the authorities of what had happened. According to the passenger, they departed after 11:15 am from the Moore Airport that day. While en route, at about 3:00 pm, the engine sputtered as if it was running out of fuel. The pilot switched from the left fuel tank to the right fuel tank and mentioned that they had enough fuel for a four hour trip, and that the right tank would be more than enough to get them to the airport. He had been regularly switching tanks during the flight. A few minutes later the engine sputtered again. The pilot said "this can't be happening; we have enough fuel for 4 hours". The engine went on and off and then lost power. The pilot stated to the NTSB and the FAA that he had experienced fuel exhaustion, due to miscalculation of the fuel and there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/24/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1537 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Palatka |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32177 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 293931N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814119W |
| Event Location Airport | Kay Larkin Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 28J |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 12 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGJ |
| 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 | 8500 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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 Docket Number (internal use) | 19399 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Atlanta Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7657R |
| NTSB Number | MIA06CA040 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE23 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1261 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | R & S Aero, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Fitzhugh L. Shelton III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Chambersburg |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KSOP |
| Departure City | Pinehurst |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 28J |
| Destination City | Palatka |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 13 2006 10:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |