Fuel exhaustion Accident Beechcraft F33A Bonanza N8148R,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 44000
 
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Date:Saturday 23 September 2006
Time:13:00
Type:Silhouette image of generic BE33 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Beechcraft F33A Bonanza
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N8148R
MSN: CE-526
Year of manufacture:1974
Total airframe hrs:9840 hours
Engine model:Continental IO-520-BA25
Fatalities:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Alabaster, AL -   United States of America
Phase: Take off
Nature:Unknown
Departure airport:Alabaster, AL (KEET)
Destination airport:
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
Witnesses heard the airplane engine sputter and lose power on initial take off climb. The nose of the airplane was observed to level out and the engine started and lost power again. The airplane was observed to enter a steep bank to the left estimated between 45 to 100 degrees. The nose of the airplane pitched down and two witnesses observed the airplane level out before it collided with the ground. The Pilot's Operating Handbook states that the airplane would stall with flaps up at 75 knots with a 45-degree angle of bank, and at 85 knots with 60-degree angle of bank. A friend of the pilot who flew in the airplane the day before the accident stated that he thought the left main fuel gauge indicated empty and the right main fuel gauge indicated half full. There was no record indicating that the airplane had been refueled before the pilot started conducting sightseeing flights lasting 10 to 15 minutes each on the day of the accident. One passenger who flew on the first sightseeing flight stated that she could not see both fuel gauges, however one fuel gauge was in the yellow range. A passenger on the second flight stated that the left fuel gauge indicated empty and the right fuel gauge was less than a quarter tank. The Pilot Operating Handbook states in Section II, Limitations, do not take off if fuel quantity gauges indicate in the yellow band or with less than 13 gallons in each main tank. The pilot flew a total of three flights before the accident flight without shutting the airplane down. The airplane holds a total of 40 gallons of fuel in the left and right main fuel tanks. Three gallons of fuel are unusable in each fuel tank. The left and right main fuel tanks were ruptured and there was no evidence of fuel or browning of vegetation at the crash site. Examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of a precrash mechanical failure or malfunction of the airframe, flight controls, or engine assembly and accessories.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering toward an emergency landing area following the total loss of engine power shortly after takeoff resulting in an inadvertent stall, uncontrolled descent, and collision with the ground, and a fence. A factor in the accident was the pilot's improper fuel management resulting in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ATL06FA129
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20060927X01405&key=1

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
28-Oct-2008 00:45 ASN archive Added
21-Dec-2016 19:24 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
05-Dec-2017 09:22 ASN Update Bot Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]

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