Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Abilene, Texas 79602
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 13:05 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed on a 615-nautical mile cross-country flight that reportedly would take him about four hours and fifteen minutes to complete. He reported that he had about five and one-half hours of fuel on-board, and that he received a weather briefing before departing. The briefing indicated that he would encounter marginal visual flight conditions en route to his destination. During the flight, stronger than expected wind conditions were adding about 10 minutes to his flight, and about 50 miles from his destination, he started his descent from 9,500 feet with a solid cloud layer below him. He contacted the air traffic controller and received an instrument rules flight plan for an approach to his destination. He said that as he broke out from the clouds, it was too late to make a landing at the airport, and the engine lost power. He switched fuel tanks and the engine re-started. He said that the controller asked him if he had enough fuel to a make an alternate airport, located about 44 miles away, to which he responded that the right fuel tank showed one-third full. About 3 miles from the alternate airport the engine lost power again, this time the pilot could not get it restarted. He then elected to conduct a forced landing on a road. During the forced landing the airplane’s horizontal stabilizer impacted a signpost, causing substantial damage to the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/29/2010
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1305
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Abilene
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79602
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 322440N
Event Location Longitude 0994055W
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 1305 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KABI
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2200
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 11
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
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) 30.06
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) 28124
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 25 2011 2:29PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N210BH
NTSB Number CEN11CA132
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model T210L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21060954
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 20 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4600
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Glenn Wade Corp.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 739 W Pizzicato Ln.
Aircraft Owner City Oro Valley
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85737-3766
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Glenn Wade Corp.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 739 W Pizzicato Ln.
Operator City Oro Valley
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 85737-3766
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 KTUS
Departure City Tucson Intnl
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KETN
Destination City Eastland
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 14 2011 3:19PM
User who most recently changed record hatc
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 --