ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft B200 King Air N337MT Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, SC (GSP)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Monday 9 November 2009
Time:10:15
Type:Silhouette image of generic BE20 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Beechcraft B200 King Air
Operator:MDTR Holdings LLC
Registration: N337MT
MSN: BB-1628
First flight: 1998
Total airframe hrs:3060
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Location:Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, SC (GSP) (   United States of America)
Phase: Landing (LDG)
Nature:Test
Departure airport:Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, SC (GSP/KGSP), United States of America
Destination airport:Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, SC (GSP/KGSP), United States of America
Narrative:
A Beechcraft B200 King Air, N337MT, was substantially damaged following a loss of engine power and impact with terrain on final approach to Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, SC (GSP). The airline transport-rated pilot and two passengers were seriously injured. Day, visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted in accordance. The flight originated at GSP at 09:38.

The airplane had undergone a phase inspection at a maintenance facility. The next morning, the pilot planned a local flight to evaluate some avionics issues. Two employees of the maintenance facility test ran the engines on the accident airplane for about 30 to 35 minutes in preparation for the phase inspection. The pilot reported that he was unaware that the engine run had been performed when he returned to the airplane for the local flight. He referred to the flight management system (FMS) fuel totalizer, and not the aircraft fuel gauges, when he returned to the airplane for the flight. He believed that the mechanics who ran the engines did not power up the FMS, which would have activated the fuel totalizer, thus creating a discrepancy between the totalizer and the airplane fuel gauges. The mechanics who performed the engine run reported that each tank contained 200 pounds of fuel at the conclusion of the engine run. The B200 Pilot’s Operating Handbook directed pilots not take off if the fuel quantity gauges indicate in the yellow arc or indicate less than 265 pounds of fuel in each main tank system. While on final approach, about 23 minutes into the flight, the right engine lost power, followed by the left. The pilot attempted to glide to the runway with the landing gear and flaps retracted, however the airplane crashed short of the runway. Only residual fuel was found in the main and auxiliary fuel tanks during the inspection of the wreckage. The tanks were not breached and there was no evidence of fuel leakage at the accident site.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot’s failure to visually verify that sufficient fuel was onboard prior to flight."

Accident investigation:

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Investigating agency: NTSB
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 1 months
Accident number: ERA10LA056
Download report: Summary report

Classification:
Fuel exhaustion
Forced landing outside airport

Sources:
» NTSB


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This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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