Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bremerton, Washington 98310
Tuesady, August 30, 2011 21:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he began the cross-country flight with 4 hours of fuel onboard for the estimated 3-hour flight. While over an airport along the route of flight, he found that the headwind was much stronger than forecast. He calculated that he had 1 hour of fuel remaining and that the remaining flight time to his destination was 30 minutes. As he approached his destination, he was receiving vectors from an air traffic controller when the airplane’s engine sputtered and stopped producing power. The pilot successfully restarted the engine. However, it soon stopped producing power again and would not restart. In the dark night, he performed a forced landing to a small opening in the trees. The first rescue personnel on scene reported that they did not detect the smell of aviation fuel and the pilot reported to rescuers that “he believed he had run out of fuel and that the engine just quit on him.” The airplane’s fuselage was bent upwards immediately behind the cabin area, and both wings were bent and wrinkled.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The total loss of engine power as a result of fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/30/2011
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 2145
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Bremerton
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98310
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 473305N
Event Location Longitude 1224218W
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 2155 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 215
Weather Observation Facility ID PWT
Elevation of weather observation facility 444
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 5500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
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) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 28959
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2011 4:57PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N338F
NTSB Number WPR11CA419
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model TU206F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number U20602331
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 13 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2054
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name ELLIS CHARLES T TRUSTEE
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City CORDOVA
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99574-1092
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name ELLIS CHARLES T TRUSTEE
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City CORDOVA
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99574-1092
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 HLN
Departure City Helena
Departure State MT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1800
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BFI
Destination City Seattle
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2011 4:57PM
User who most recently changed record coos
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 --