Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Custer County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Custer, South Dakota 57730
Saturday, June 5, 2010 10:21 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident occurred during the first flight since an annual inspection was performed on the airplane. The pilot reported that the airplane was last fueled approximately 5 months before the accident flight, at which time the fuel tanks were topped-off. According to the pilot, after being refueled the airplane was flown about 30 minutes to the accident airport where the annual inspection was performed. The Inspector Authorization (IA) mechanic who performed the annual inspection stated that he ran the engines for about 30 minutes before the annual and about 40 minutes after the inspection was completed. The IA mechanic did not refuel the airplane after the annual inspection. The pilot told a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that he did not visually check the fuel tank levels before the accident flight. The pilot stated that after takeoff he remained in the traffic pattern and performed a full stop landing. He then back-taxied on the runway before his next takeoff. After the second takeoff, during initial climb, the pilot noticed that the rear engine was losing power. He applied full power to the forward engine and was able to maintain sufficient altitude to clear a tree line, but the airplane was losing airspeed. He then performed an off-field landing approximately 4 miles from the departure airport. The airplane landed in a soft field, during which the landing gear collapsed and the fuselage, left wing, and left stabilizer were substantially damaged. The pilot stated that after the accident he visually inspected the right main fuel tank and found it empty. He indicated that he had been running the rear engine on the right main fuel tank during the accident flight. A postaccident inspection by a FAA inspector revealed the left main and left auxiliary fuel tanks contained 14 gallons and 17 gallons, respectively. The right main and right auxiliary fuel tanks contained 3 ounces and 3 gallons, respectively. The fuel selectors were all found turned off at the accident site. The rear engine was started and operated between an idle power setting and 1,500 rpm without anomalies. The engine responded to throttle inputs and both of its magnetos were operational during the test run.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the pilot's inadequate fuel mismanagement.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/5/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1021 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Custer |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57730 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1033704W |
| Event Location Airport | Custer County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KCUT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5602 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCUT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5602 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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) | 30.02 |
| 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) | 27361 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - Great Lakes ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 5 2010 8:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2267X |
| NTSB Number | CEN10CA305 |
| 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 | 337 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 337-0167 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 3 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4811 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Grover D. Fulkerson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 169 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pringle |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57773-0169 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Grover D. Fulkerson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 169 |
| Operator City | Pringle |
| Operator State | SD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 57773-0169 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KCUT |
| Departure City | Custer |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KCUT |
| Destination City | Custer |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2010 9:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |