Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chatsworth, Georgia 30705
Friday, September 24, 2010 22:49 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departure, the pilot filed an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan to his destination airport and calculated a fuel burn rate of 9 gallons of fuel per hour. Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes after departure, the pilot canceled his IFR flight plan with the air traffic controller without giving a reason and changed his destination airport. One minute later, the pilot declared an emergency with air traffic control, reporting his engine had failed. Witnesses in the vicinity of the crash site observed the airplane flying at tree top level, and reported they could not hear the engine running. The airplane made a steep right turn, struck the top of a tree, and collided with the ground.
Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no anomalies. The right main fuel tank was not ruptured and contained 1 quart of fuel. The left main fuel tank was not ruptured and contained 2 1/2 gallons of fuel, 2 of which were considered unusable fuel. Review of the airplane logbooks revealed the engine horsepower had been increased to 160 horsepower, and the airplane's fuel burn rate was increased due to a modification by a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) 8 years prior to the accident. A copy of the STC was not located in the airplane wreckage. The registered owner reported the pilot had received instruction on the STC; however, no documentation was provided substantiating this instruction. He further stated the STC only increased the fuel burn rate for the first 5 minutes of flight at takeoff power. Review of the engine Operator's Manual revealed the maximum fuel usage at full power, is about 13.6 gallons per hour. At 82 percent power the fuel burn rate is about 11.25 gallons per hour.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate flight planning and in-flight fuel management resulting in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the operator's failure to ensure aircraft records pertaining to engine modifications and fuel burn rates were available to flight crewmembers.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/24/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2249 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chatsworth |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30705 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344117N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0844859W |
| 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 | 2219 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 318 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DNN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 709 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28036 |
| 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 | May 11 2011 3:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N84249 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA502 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | K |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17258394 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 7 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 5708 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Flight Training Express LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 416 Palm Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Smyrna Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32168 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Flight Training Express LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 416 Palm Street |
| Operator City | New Smyrna Beach |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32168 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | X50 |
| Departure City | New Smyrna Beac |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1908 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHA |
| Destination City | Chattanooga |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2011 3:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| 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 | -- |