Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Okeechobee County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Okeechobee, Florida 34972
Saturday, March 24, 2007 15:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that 9.5 gallons of fuel was onboard the airplane before takeoff. He cruised at an altitude of 3,500 mean sea level, for a flight of about 51 nautical miles, with an indicated airspeed of 110 knots. During final approach, about 250 feet above ground level, the airplane had a loss of engine power, and the pilot elected to land on the grass prior to the runway. The airplane impacted a ditch about 255 feet from the runway's threshold, and become airborne again. The nose gear bent, and the bottom cowling was damaged before it came to a stop. A person from the airport with a tractor assisted in towing the airplane into a hanger. As the airplane was towed, the pilot said he noticed fuel leaking from the airplane, and reached inside the cabin and turned the fuel selector valve off. The person who assisted the pilot stated to the airport manager that he did not see any fuel leaking during the recovery process, and confirmed with the pilot that the fuel selector valve was in the off position before the airplane was moved. The FAA inspector that conducted the postaccident examination drained 1.25 gallons of fuel from each wing tank, for a total of 2.5 gallons. The airplane's unusable fuel is 3.5 gallons.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion, which resulted in a loss of engine power during final approach, and a collision with a ditch.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Okeechobee |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34972 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 271546N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0805059W |
| Event Location Airport | OKEECHOBEE COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OBE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 34 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1425 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOBE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 34 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22071 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Atlanta FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 27 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando Fsdo |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N704HF |
| NTSB Number | MIA07CA064 |
| 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 | 150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15078618 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 67.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 7883 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert S. Varney |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2444 Nobility Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Melbourne |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32934 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert S. Varney |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Melbourne |
| Operator State | FL |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KMLB |
| Departure City | MELBOURNE |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KOBE |
| Destination City | OKEECHOBEE |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2007 11:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 050 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |