Cessna T337G N8CX

Summary

On 9 August 1998 at about 17:38 local time, a Cessna T337G registered N8CX, operated by Gary Poulin, was involved in an accident near Windsor Twnship, Pennsylvania, United States. 5 people were on board and 4 were seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 August 1998 at 17:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Windsor Twnship, Pennsylvania, United States

Coordinates

40.0007, -76.7694

Aircraft

Cessna T337G

Registration

N8CX

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Gary Poulin

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Portland → Lancaster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

IAD98LA091

4 people were seriously injured.

The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel which led to fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he was north of Lancaster at an altitude of 8,500 feet, when he requested an IFR clearance to descend below the cloud cover. Once the clearance was received for the descent, he extended the landing gear. While descending through 4,000 feet, the front engine lost power, and within 30 seconds, the rear engine lost power. He recalled that he saw 100 pounds of fuel indicating on both fuel gauges. He stated that he did not raise the landing gear, and because neither of his engines had unfeathering devices, he did not feather either engine. The pilot stated that the controller vectored him to an airport 6 miles away, but when he realized that he was unable to reach it, he executed a forced landing into a cornfield. He further stated that about 10 feet above the field, the right wing dropped, and the airplane impacted the ground in a right wing down, nose down attitude. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector did not reveal any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. The Inspector reported that approximately 2 gallons of fuel were drained from the wreckage. The Pilot's Operating Handbook recovered from the airplane indicated that the total fuel tank capacity was 125 gallons, which included 2 unusable gallons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.