Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Addington Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Saturday, August 30, 2008 17:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was fueled before the pilot's first flight that day. A total of 6.0 gallons of fuel were added to each fuel tank. After fueling, the pilot dipped each fuel tank using the provided dipstick, and determined that each tank contained between 7.0 and 7.5 gallons of usable fuel. He then flew one load of skydivers, returned, and attempted to secure the engine for fueling but was pressured by company personnel that he had enough fuel to make the second flight and that he needed to keep the airplane operating. He reluctantly kept the engine running and did not refuel the airplane, contrary to his typical procedure. The next load of skydivers were boarded, and the flight departed. The flight climbed to 11,000 feet where they were offloaded. He maneuvered away from the airport due to clouds, and when clear of them, proceeded to return. While flying at 2,000 feet close to the traffic pattern, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. Attempts to restart were unsuccessful. The pilot performed a forced landing in a corn field substantially damaging the airplane. Postaccident, a total of between 8.5 and 9.0 gallons of fuel were drained from the airplane. The total unusable fuel amount for all flight conditions is 10.0 gallons. A replacement propeller was installed and the engine was started and found to operate normally. The owner's manual used by the operator was incorrect, though the pilot knew the correct unusable amount.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was pressure from the company for the pilot to fly the second load of skydivers without refueling.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1750 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elizabethtown |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 42701 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 374047N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0855625W |
| Event Location Airport | Addington Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EKX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.03 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 775 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 353 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FTK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 756 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 24939 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern C-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 30 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 18 2009 1:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Louisville, Kentucky |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5927B |
| NTSB Number | MIA08LA180 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 33927 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2649 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 27 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6006.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JERRYS SKYDIVING CIRCUS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8585 DOBBS CEM ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLUMBUS |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47201 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Skydive Kentucky, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5878 Columbia Highway |
| Operator City | Greensburg |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 42743 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Skydiving |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | EKX |
| Departure City | Elizabethtown |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1726 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | EKX |
| Destination City | Elizabethtown |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 17 2009 2:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |