Knoxville Downtown Island Airp Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Knoxville, Tennessee 37915
Saturday, September 6, 2008 16:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed with 15-20 gallons of fuel for the approximately 1 hour round-trip flight to a nearby airport. The outbound leg of the trip was the airplane's first flight since an annual inspection. Prior to the inspection, the airplane was not flown much and the fuel in the airplane was "old." The pilot performed a pre-flight inspection during which he sumped the fuel tanks and noted no contamination. During the return leg of the trip, as the airplane turned onto final approach for the airport, the engine lost power, which "sounded like the airplane quit getting gas to the engine." When the pilot realized he could not make it to the runway, he prepared for a forced landing to a river. The airplane "stalled" above the water, and after it touched down, both occupants egressed and swam to shore. Examination of the airplane after recovery from the river revealed both fuel tanks were empty. The pilot reported that the airplane burned approximately 10 gallons of fuel per hour; however, the airplane's Owner's Manual stated the engine consumed 13.6 – 14.1 gallons per hour.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations which resulted in total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/6/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Knoxville
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 37915
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355749N
Event Location Longitude 0835225W
Event Location Airport Knoxville Downtown Island Airp
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DKX
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID TYS
Elevation of weather observation facility 981
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
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
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26083
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern ROC
NTSB Notification Date Sep 6 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2009 10:57AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Nashville FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4403D
NTSB Number NYC08LA306
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 BEECH
Aircraft Model G35
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number D-4623
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6400
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BROWN DAVID G
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City KNOXVILLE
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 37939-0193
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name BROWN DAVID G
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City KNOXVILLE
Operator State TN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 37939-0193
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 1A6
Departure City MIDDLESBORO
Departure State KY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DKX
Destination City Knoxville
Destination State TN
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 Sep 15 2009 5:00PM
User who most recently changed record andj
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 --