Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rutherford County -Marc Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rutherfordton, North Carolina 28139
Sunday, January 26, 2014 13:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he checked the fuel gauges in the airplane before departing on a cross country flight. He stated that the left fuel gauge indicated 1/2 tank and the right fuel gauge indicated 1/4 tank. The pilot did not visually check the fuel quantity in the tanks and did not take on any additional fuel. Approximately 60 nautical miles (NM) from his destination, he switched from the left fuel tank to the right fuel tank. The engine began to "stutter" and he switched back to the left fuel tank and the engine resumed normal operation. He located the nearest airport which was 10 NM from his location and made a turn towards it. Shortly thereafter, the engine began to "stutter" again and the pilot shut the engine down and made an emergency landing in a field. During the emergency landing, the airplane collided with trees, and sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. Examination of the fuel system revealed that the fuel tanks were not breached, and the left and right fuel tanks contained less than 1 gallon of fuel in each. A review of the pilot operating handbook (POH) revealed that each fuel tank held 26 gallons of fuel, for a total of 52 gallons. The POH stated that there is 48 gallons of usable fuel, which left 4 gallons of fuel unusable. The POH also revealed that the fuel tanks should be visually checked before flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate pre-flight planning and in-flight monitoring of the fuel level which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/26/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1345 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Rutherfordton |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28139 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352542N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815606E |
| Event Location Airport | Rutherford County Airport-Marc |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FQD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 1077 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1300 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 55 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HKY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1190 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 37 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 28.9 |
| 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) | 32546 |
| 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 | Mar 31 2014 12:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6762U |
| NTSB Number | ERA14CA104 |
| 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 | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2484 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 20 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2091 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GOELLER S DEREK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MABLETON |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30126 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | GOELLER S DEREK |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MABLETON |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30126 |
| 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 | FTY |
| Departure City | Atlanta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HKY |
| Destination City | Hickory |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2014 12:21PM |
| 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 | -- |