Beechcraft G35 N4403D

Summary

On 6 September 2008 at about 20:00 local time, a Beechcraft G35 registered N4403D, operated by Brown David G, was involved in an accident near Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 September 2008 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Knoxville Downtown Island Airp (DKX)

Coordinates

35.9636, -83.8736

Aircraft

Beechcraft G35

Registration

N4403D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Brown David G

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Middlesboro → Knoxville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA306

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations which resulted in total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed with 15-20 gallons of fuel for the approximately 1 hour round-trip flight to a nearby airport. The outbound leg of the trip was the airplane's first flight since an annual inspection. Prior to the inspection, the airplane was not flown much and the fuel in the airplane was "old." The pilot performed a pre-flight inspection during which he sumped the fuel tanks and noted no contamination. During the return leg of the trip, as the airplane turned onto final approach for the airport, the engine lost power, which "sounded like the airplane quit getting gas to the engine." When the pilot realized he could not make it to the runway, he prepared for a forced landing to a river. The airplane "stalled" above the water, and after it touched down, both occupants egressed and swam to shore. Examination of the airplane after recovery from the river revealed both fuel tanks were empty. The pilot reported that the airplane burned approximately 10 gallons of fuel per hour; however, the airplane's Owner's Manual stated the engine consumed 13.6 – 14.1 gallons per hour.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.