Beechcraft B200 N50PM

Summary

On 20 October 1998 at about 18:26 local time, a Beechcraft B200 registered N50PM was involved in an accident near Rio Rancho, New Mexico, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 October 1998 at 18:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Rio Rancho, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

35.2706, -106.6591

Aircraft

Beechcraft B200

Registration

N50PM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Las Vegas → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN99LA014

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight of the aircraft, resulting in fuel supply exhaustion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During his preflight, the pilot checked the fuel gauges and interpreted them as indicating that the aircraft's fuel tanks were full, and did not check the tanks visually. One hour after departure, the aircraft experienced a failure of the right engine, followed several minutes later by the failure of the left engine. He made an emergency landing in a field northwest of Albuquerque. The pilot stated in his accident report: 'When I viewed the [fuel] gauges, I mistook the '600' lbs. as normal for 'full aux.' When I pressed the toggle switch, and saw movement to the 'left'... I mistook this for the mains.' A postaccident examination of the aircraft revealed that no fuel was present in either the auxiliary or main fuel tanks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.