Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Columbia-Marion County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Columbia, Mississippi 39429
Saturday, March 21, 2009 17:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot flew a cross-country flight, 2 hours in duration, making stops at 2 airports. He then added 10 gallons of fuel to the airplane and observed that the quantity of fuel in the tanks was 1 ½ inches from the top of the fuel tank. The pilot flew approximately one hour, dropped off a passenger, and then departed for the return flight to his home airport. He did not refuel, or look in the fuel tanks to confirm the fuel quantity before departure. The pilot reported he relied mostly on his fuel gauges, which indicated half-full and three-quarters full, to confirm that he had adequate fuel for the flight. After flying for about one hour, while on final approach to the home airport, the airplane's engine lost power and the pilot performed a forced landing. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the right fuel tank was empty and the left fuel tank contained only "a trace of fuel." Less than a pint of fuel was drained from the gascolator. No mechanical failures were identified by the Federal Aviation Administration, nor were any reported by the pilot. The pilot reported he conducted the flights with the mixture control in the full rich position. The Pilot's Operating Handbook for the aircraft instructs the pilot to lean the fuel mixture for better fuel economy while in cruise flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power in flight due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight and in-flight fuel planning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Columbia |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 39429 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 312904N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0894919W |
| Event Location Airport | Columbia-Marion County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0R0 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 265 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1735 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 245 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 298 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 58 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 26471 |
| 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 | Jan 8 2010 11:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4057U |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA208 |
| 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 | 150E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15061457 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1437 |
| 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 | Jul 3 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3560 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Billy R. Kelly |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 17 Sumbrall Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lumberton |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39455-8922 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Billy R. Kelly |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lumberton |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39455-8922 |
| 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 | HEZ |
| Departure City | Natchez |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 0R0 |
| Destination City | Columbia |
| Destination State | MS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 8 2010 11:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 4460 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |