Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hartford County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Perryville, Maryland 21903
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 16:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and owner of the airplane departed on a round-trip cross-country flight with one stop. Before departure the owner topped off the fuel tanks and the pilot elected to trust the owner on the accuracy of the fuel amount. No fuel was added and the fuel level was not verified while at the enroute stop. Ten miles from the departure airport, on the return leg, the engine stopped running. The pilot attempted to restart the engine and switched fuel tanks, but the engine would not restart. The pilot elected to land in an empty field; during the landing, the airplane overran the field boundary, went through a ditch, and impacted a tree as it crossed a road before coming to a stop. In the process, the airplane’s nose gear broke off and damaged the leading edge of the right wing. The pilot and owner exited the airplane without assistance. The airplane had been flown for a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes in the round-trip flight before the engine stopped running due to fuel exhaustion.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Perryville |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 21903 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393354N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0760418W |
| Event Location Airport | Hartford County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OW3 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 380 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1600 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMTN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 20 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.39 |
| 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) | 25661 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Maryland State Police |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 29 2009 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3063U |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA297 |
| 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 | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17250663 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 2 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3555 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard Hiller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3301 Serenity Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | Owens Mills |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21117 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Terry Willis |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 175 East Deen Street |
| Operator City | Aberdeen |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 21001-2010 |
| 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 | 9VG |
| Departure City | Weirwood |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OW3 |
| Destination City | Churchville |
| Destination State | MD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 15 2014 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |