N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Perry, Florida 32348
Friday, September 21, 2012 12:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, before the flight, he performed a preflight inspection on the twin-engine airplane, during which he checked the fuel quantity onboard the airplane by looking at the fuel computer, which displayed 65 gallons. He then added 20 gallons of fuel to the left wing fuel tank and 25 gallons to the right wing fuel tank. He then entered the added amount of fuel into the fuel computer for a total of 110 gallons, which was consistent with the fuel gauges, which display fuel in pounds and which indicated that 275 pounds of fuel was in the left tank and 350 pounds of fuel was in the right tank. This amount should have been sufficient for the flight. After departure, the pilot turned toward his destination and climbed the airplane to about 3,000 feet above sea level. Later, the right engine began to surge, and “after going through the checklist” the pilot elected to do a precautionary landing. The pilot asked air traffic control for the closest airfield; however, the pilot, after seeing nothing but trees, decided to land on a road with the landing gear in the up position. During the landing, the left wingtip struck a tree. Examination of the wreckage revealed that both propellers were in the feathered position, the wing flaps were up, the landing gear was up, and the wing structure and both firewalls were substantially damaged. Further examination revealed that the left wing fuel tank contained about 22 gallons of fuel, and the right wing fuel tank was almost devoid of fuel. Thus, it is likely that the pilot did not monitor the fuel balance and allowed an imbalance between the two fuel tanks to occur, which resulted in the right engine being starved of fuel. This could have been remedied at any time during the cruise portion of the flight if the pilot had opened the cross-feed valve for the right engine, which would have allowed the right engine to feed fuel from the left tank and would have allowed him to balance the fuel load. Examination of the cockpit switches revealed that the airplane had not been properly configured by the pilot for one-engine-inoperative flight per the guidance contained in the operating manual. If this had been done, the the airplane could have continued to fly at altitude, allowing the pilot to reach a diversionary airport and execute a one-engine-inoperative landing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s improper in-flight fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation and the right engine’s complete loss of power. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s improper configuration of the airplane following the loss of engine power.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/21/2012
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Perry
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32348
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 294835N
Event Location Longitude 0833244W
Event Location Airport N/A
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 1253 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID 40J
Elevation of weather observation facility 44
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
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) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
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 6
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 33134
NTSB Notification Source FAA SROCC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2014 9:24AM
User who most recently changed record kenj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N26GW
NTSB Number ERA12LA571
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 BEAGLE
Aircraft Model B206 SERIES 2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number B206-070
Certified Max Gross Weight 7500
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 23 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 3190
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BLUE SKY INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City FORT LAUDERDALE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33316-1218
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Gene A. Whiddon
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City FORT LAUDERDALE
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33316
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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 09FA
Departure City Lake Placid
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1140
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TLH
Destination City Tallahassee
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2014 9:24AM
User who most recently changed record kenj
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 --