Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Winter Haven, Florida 33881
Sunday, November 21, 2010 13:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he reviewed the weather prior to departing on the 416-nautical mile cross-country flight. The pilot fueled the airplane with 30.1 gallons of fuel the morning of the flight. About 3 miles from the destination airport, as the airplane was descending through 1,500 feet mean sea level, the engine sputtered and subsequently experienced a loss of power. During the forced landing, the airplane struck a tree, continued down an incline, and came to rest in a small pond, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, and the firewall. A postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane's left fuel tank contained 2.5 gallons of fuel, the right fuel tank contained 0.5 gallons of fuel; the fuel selector was in the "BOTH" position.
A review of the airplane's applicable Owner's Manual revealed that the unusable fuel in level flight was 0.5 gallons. At 67 percent power, and operating with a lean mixture, the airplane's fuel consumption rate was 7.6 gallons per hour. When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the pilot stated that he should have stopped for fuel en route.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight/inflight fuel planning resulting in fuel exhaustion and total loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/21/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Winter Haven |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33881 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 280346N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814507W |
| Event Location Airport | Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GIF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 145 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GIF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 145 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| 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) | 28322 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Polk County Sheriff Office |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2011 10:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3700L |
| NTSB Number | ERA11CA069 |
| 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 | 172G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17253869 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 3 |
| 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 | Mar 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2345 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RUPPEL ALVIN G |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE WALES |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33859-5761 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | RUPPEL ALVIN G |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LAKE WALES |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33859-5761 |
| 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 | GYH |
| Departure City | Greenville |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GIF |
| Destination City | Winter Haven |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2011 10:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |