Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Alexandria Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cheneyville, Louisiana 71325
Saturday, June 2, 2007 9:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot reported that shortly after takeoff, the engine of his single-engine airplane developed an abnormal fluctuation while climbing through 1,300 feet MSL. As a precaution, the pilot elected to return to the departure airport; however, while turning to the airport, the engine lost power, and he prepared for a forced landing to an open field. Prior to the forced landing, he noticed freshly dug ditches on both side of the field, and he repositioned to an adjacent field to the right of his initial landing spot. The pilot added that the engine began to surge when the airplane was about 300 feet above the ground, which extended his glide. The airplane touched down on soft ground, the tires sunk in, and the airplane nosed-over. Examination of the airplane revealed the fuel bladders in both wings were not breached and there was no evidence of fuel stains around the vented fuel caps. Approximately 1-gallon of light blue fuel was drained from the right tank, and less than 1-gallon of light blue fuel was drained from the left tank. The fuel was free of water and debris. The engine mounted fuel strainer bowl was empty, and the fuel screen was clean. The pilot reported that he did a preflight inspection of the airplane, but did not visually inspect the fuel tanks. Instead he relied on a fuel flow meter installed in the cockpit, which indicated a total of 43.6 gallons. The pilot reported that the gauge was usually accurate, and he was unaware of what happened to the fuel he thought was onboard.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power while climbing due to the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion. A factor associated with the accident was the soft terrain at the forced landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/2/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cheneyville |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71325 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 305723N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0921402W |
| Event Location Airport | ALEXANDRIA INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AEX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 730 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21787 |
| NTSB Notification Source | BTR FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2007 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, La FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3356R |
| NTSB Number | DFW07CA127 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18258656 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3371.87 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Randy A. McBride |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1014 Highway 3170 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alexandria |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71302 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 2R6 |
| Departure City | BUNKIE |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 2L0 |
| Destination City | TEMECULA |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 26 2007 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |