Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Culebra, Puerto Rico 00984
Tuesady, August 8, 2006 12:34 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airline transport certificated pilot was hired to fly the twin engine airplane from Antigua to Puerto Rico. The airplane had not been flown in the previous 12 years, and the initial test flight revealed some discrepancies, including high fuel pressure on the right engine, and a strong smell of gasoline fumes inside the airplane. On the accident date, the pilot said that he was told the airplane had received an annual inspection, and had been fueled with 152 gallons in the main wing tanks. He said he had a conversation with maintenance personnel who told him that there was some residual fuel in the left rear fuel tank, and that fuel in the right rear tank would not feed. The pilot said he departed with 3 hours of fuel on the Title 14, CFR Part 91 flight. About 1.5 hours after departure, he noticed a strong odor of fuel inside the airplane, and shortly thereafter, the right engine lost power, followed quickly by the left engine. He said he suspected a fuel stoppage problem and performed emergency procedures by switching fuel tanks and attempting to restart the engines. The pilot noted that he was unable to cross-feed fuel because the valve handle would turn 360 degrees, without operating properly. He also noted that there was no fuel pressure, and the fuel gauges indicated empty. The pilot was unable to restart either engine, feathered the propellers, and ditched the airplane near the shore of an island. The airplane subsequently sank in about 50 feet of water. The owner of the airplane reported that after the airplane was retrieved, 60 gallons of fuel was recovered from the left wing fuel tank, and 25 gallons was recovered from the right wing fuel tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation/exhaustion in all engines for an undetermined reason during cruise flight, which resulted in a forced landing and ditching.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/8/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1234 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Culebra |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00984 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 181900N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0651930W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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) | 30 |
| 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 | 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) | 21367 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 8 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2007 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-San Juan FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N498BH |
| NTSB Number | ANC06LA112 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 39952 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas Cuyler |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dega Baja |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00984 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Luis E. Hernandez |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Carolina |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 00984 |
| 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 | ANU |
| Departure City | St. John's |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | AC |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TJIG |
| Destination City | San Juan |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2007 9:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |