Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Savannah, Georgia 31411
Saturday, October 4, 2008 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was fueled twice in an effort to obtain maximum fuel capacity, then secured in a hangar and was not operated; no fuel leakage was noted on the hangar floor. The pilot did not visually inspect the fuel tanks during her preflight inspection, contrary to the Pilot's Operating Handbook. The flight departed with an inoperative right fuel quantity gauge and proceeded towards the destination airport with fuel supplied from both fuel tanks at different times and durations. Approximately 3 hours and 35 minutes into the flight, while the left fuel tank was supplying fuel, the engine experienced a momentary surge that stopped when the pilot reduced throttle control. At that time the left fuel quantity gauge indicated approximately 35 minutes of fuel remaining at normal cruise power; however, the pilot thought it should have 24 gallons remaining and attributed the error to be an indicator problem. The flight continued and she positioned the fuel selector to the right tank and flew for a few minutes, then repositioned the fuel selector to the left tank, for which the fuel quantity gauge indicated zero. Several minutes later the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. She notified air traffic control and was vectored to the nearest airport but was unable to land there. She ditched the airplane in a marsh, and was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. No unusual fuel flow was reported to have occurred during the accident flight. Postaccident inspection of the wreckage revealed no fuel in either fuel tank or in fuel lines in the engine compartment. No fuel leak was noted and there was no evidence of engine preimpact failure or malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power in flight due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's improper fuel management.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/4/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Savannah |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31411 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 315454N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0810139W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 332 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 50 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| 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) | 25489 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2009 10:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11PC |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA004 |
| 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 | T210M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21062600 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 5 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3825 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SINGER EUGENIA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PRINCETON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08540-4217 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SINGER EUGENIA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PRINCETON |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08540-4217 |
| 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 | TTN |
| Departure City | Trenton |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 725 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SSI |
| Destination City | Brunswick |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2009 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |