Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Clarksville, Florida 32430
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 13:56 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, prior to conducting low level power line inspection flights, he filled both fuel tanks. During the flight, the pilot noted the right fuel tank guage showed about 3/4 full, and the left guage showed about 1/4 full. He was not concerned because he knew he had sufficient fuel due to timing. About 2 hours, 45 minutes of flight time after refueling, the engine lost power. The pilot's attempts to restart the engine by switching fuel tanks and applying carburetor heat were unsuccessful. The airplane descended into trees, coming to rest nose-down in a near-vertical attitude. The following day, the pilot and an FAA inspector saw fuel leaking from the right wing fuel cap vent, but not from the left.
A postaccident engine test revealed that, with fuel in both tanks, the engine would start and operate with fuel selected from the left tank and both tanks, but not from the right tank. Additional examination revealed that a small steel ball from the right supply side of the fuel selector had migrated to the gascolator. The steel ball would have normally been able to push against a spring-loaded larger steel ball, which then would have been displaced away from an orifice to allow fuel to flow. The airplane's owner and a friend, who were not certificated mechanics, had previously performed maintenance on the fuel selector, which likely dislodged the small steel ball. The dislodged small steel ball would normally have prevented fuel flow from the right tank immediately. However, the right tank did supply fuel to the engine for about 10 subsequent hours of airplane operation, likely because the larger steel ball had been temporarily jammed into an open position due to debris found in the fuel selector.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the owner's improper maintenance of the fuel selector valve, which resulted in a lack of fuel supply from the right fuel tank.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/23/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1356 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Clarksville |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32430 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302654N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0851154W |
| 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 | 1453 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MAI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 110 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| 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) | 30.12 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28997 |
| 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 | Nov 9 2011 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3740L |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA156 |
| 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 | 17253909 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 3 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 26 |
| Airframe Hours | 3244 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SMITH RICHARD L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PANAMA CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32404-2835 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | HERSCHEL C SMITH III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PANAMA CITY |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32404-2835 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 1J0 |
| Departure City | Bonifay |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 75FL |
| Destination City | Panama City |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2011 6:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| 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 | -- |