Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
St. Augustine Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Augustine, Florida 32905
Monday, February 1, 2010 13:31 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot refueled the airplane and departed. While cruising at altitudes varying between 6,500 feet and 2,500 feet above ground level, he noticed that the right fuel gauge was fluctuating around the empty indication and the left fuel gauge was giving intermittent indications. The pilot elected to land at an airport that was en route to his destination. As the airplane approached the airport, the engine experienced a total loss of power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot made a forced landing to a highway about 600 yards short of the airport and, after maneuvering to avoid traffic, the airplane struck road signs and came to rest in a ditch. The pilot stated that he always based fuel consumption on time, altitude and temperature, and monitored it with a stopwatch. Subsequent fuel consumption calculations indicated that at the rpm setting provided by the pilot, the airplane should have had well in excess of 30 minutes of fuel onboard when the engine ceased operating, about 2.5 hours after takeoff. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed fuel stains under the right under-wing area, flap, and fuselage. The stained was a result of fuel leakage due to a failure of the right wing fuel tank sending unit gasket.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion caused by the failure of the right wing fuel tank sending unit gasket, which resulted in a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/1/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1331 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | St. Augustine |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32905 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 295720N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0812014W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Augustine |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SGJ |
| 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 | 1358 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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) | 27891 |
| 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 4 2011 12:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3995J |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA127 |
| 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 | 150G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15065295 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1760 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Mar 23 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 5442 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAWN AVN LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD STE 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Thomas Shappell |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Reading |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19607 |
| 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 | GGE |
| Departure City | Georgetown |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SGJ |
| Destination City | St. Augustine |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 4 2011 12:44PM |
| 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 | -- |