# Accident 20020702017499A: Cessna 182A, Siler City, NC, July 2, 2002 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: July 2, 2002, 01:59 local time - Place: Siler City, NC - Airport: Blair Municipal Airport - Damage: No damage - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 35.6833° N, 79.5000° W: From the FAA - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.6833&lon=-79.5000&mi=10 - Aircraft: N9996B, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9996B-2013-03-25) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Cessna 182A (registry code 2072704, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-182a) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: Continental O-470 series (registry code 17026, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 182A - Fatal injuries: 0 - NTSB investigation: [NTSB MIA02LA123](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA02LA123) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020702017499A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. (-23) ON JULY 2, 2002, ABOUT 0200, EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME (EDT), A CESSNA CE-182-A, N9996B, PILOTED BY JAMES WILLIAM COCKRELL, PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE NUMBER 224332379, OPERATING AS A TITLE 14 CFR PART 91 FERRY FLIGHT, MADE A FORCED LANDING ONE MILE SOUTH OF THE SILER CITY, NC MUNI AIRPORT (5W8). HE WAS OPERATING ON A VFR FLIGHT PLAN, AND VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED AND THE PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT, RECEIVED SERIOUS INJURIES. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM DELAND FL MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (DED) AT APPROXIMATELY 1037 EDT ON JULY 1, 2002. INTERVIEWED AT THE CHATHAM HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM BY CHATHAM COUNTY SHERIFF DEPUTY,^PRIVACY DAT^MR. COCKRELL STATED THAT HE WAS ENROUTE FROM FLORIDA TO GREENSBORO, NC WITH A STOP AT SILER CITY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT. HE SAID HE WAS IN RADIO CONTACT WITH GREENSBORO, NC APPROACH CONTROL, BUT THEY WERE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. HE WAS HEADING NORTH AT 5,500 FEET ALTITUDE AND 80 KNOTS, WHEN THE AIRPLANE BEGAN HAVING ENGINE TROUBLE. HE STATED THAT HE RESTARTED THE ENGINE, BUT IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT HAD ANY POWER. HE COULDN'T CONTROL THE PLANE. GREENSBORO NC AIR TRAFFIC APPROACH CONTROL REPORTED LAST RADIO CONTACT WITH N9996BAT 0156:56 AND LAST RADAR CONTACT AT 0157:30 AT APPROXIMATELY 2.5 MILES FROM THE SILER CITY AIRPORT. THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED IN THE BACK YARD OF A PRIVATE RESIDENCE 1.1 STATUTE MILES SOUTH OF THE SOUTH END OF THE AIRPORT'S RUNWAY 04. THE PILOT EXITED THE AIRCRAFT, WHICH WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED, AND WENT TO A RESIDENCE ACROSS THE STREET TO PHONE FOR HELP. INSPECTORS LEO MCGINTY AND DOUG BADGETT, OF THE GREENSBORO, NC FLIGHT STANDARDS DISTRICT OFFICE WENT TO THE ACCIDENT SCENE AT APPROXIMATELY 0930 ON THE SAME MORNING. THEY INSPECTED AND PHOTOGRAPHED THE ACCIDENT SCENE. CHECKING THE FUEL SUMPS ON EACH WING AND THE ENGINE FUEL FILTER BOWL SHOWED NO FUEL. HOWEVER, THE AIRCRAFT WAS TILTED LEFT WING DOWN, WHICH MAY HAVE GIVEN AN ERRONEOUS INDICATION FROM THE LEFT WING. THERE WAS NO SMELL OF FUEL ABOUT THE AIRCRAFT, EVEN WHEN THE FUEL CAPS WERE REMOVED. THE FUEL LINE FROM THE RIGHT WING TANK WAS BROKEN AT THE WING ROOT AND WAS EXPOSED, BUT THERE WAS ONLY A VERY SLIGHT INDICATION OF POSSIBLE FUEL SPILLAGE ONTO THE AIRCRAFT FUSELAGE, AND THERE WAS NO SMELL OF FUEL OR INDICATION THAT FUEL HAD SPILLED ON THE GROUND. THEY ALSO NOTED THE DAMAGE TO THE AIRFRAME AND PROPELLER. ONLY ONE BLADE OF THE PROPELLER WAS DAMAGED IN THE IMPACT, AND IT WAS BENT BACKWARD WITH NO INDICATION OF REVOLUTIONARY FORCE, INDICATING THAT THE PROPELLER WAS NOT ROTATING AT IMPACT. THE RIGHT WING LEADING EDGE WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED BY IMPACT WITH THE TREES AND THE LEFT WING LESS SO. THE LOCATION OF THE WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INDICATIONS ON THE GROUND, THE COLLAPSE OF THE LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR AGAINST THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FUSELAGE AND THE LOCATION OF THE NOSE WHEEL TO THE LEFT OF THE NOSE OF THE AIRCRAFT, INDICATES THAT THE AIRCRAFT WAS TURNED AROUND IN A RELATIVELY FLAT ATTITUDE JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT WITH THE GROUND, COMING TO REST FACING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AS ITS ORIGINAL FLIGHT PATH THROUGH THE TREES. ON JULY 4, 2002, WITH AUTHORIZATION OF THE FAA, MR. BRIAN MEADOWS, OF AIRWAYS, INC. AT THE SOUTHEAST GREENSBORO (NC) AIRPORT (3A4), REMOVED THE WRECKAGE TO HIS FACILITY. AS REQUESTED BY INSPECTOR MCGINTY, HE CHECKED THE FUEL REMAINING IN THE AIRCRAFT WITH THE WINGS LEVEL. HE FOUND ONLY .877 OF A GALLON IN THE LEFT WING AND NONE IN THE RIGHT WING NOR IN THE CARBURETOR OF THE ENGINE. IN A STATEMENT TO INSPECTOR MCGINTY, HE STATED THAT HE HAD DUG UP THE SOIL UNDER THE RIGHT WING ROOT, WHERE THE FUEL LINE WAS BROKEN, BUT FOUND NO INDICATION OF FUEL SPILLAGE. ON AUGUST 8, 2002, INSPECTORS MCGINTY AND REID OF THE GREENSBORO FSDO, VISITED AIRWAYS, INC AT SOUTHEAST GREENSBORO AIRPORT TO VIEW THE AIRCRAFT WRECKAGE. A&P MECHANIC, BRIAN MEADOWS OF AIRWAYS, INC. REVIEWED THE AIRCRAFT RECORDS, WHICH HAD BEEN SENT FROM THE PRIOR OWNER IN FLORIDA, WITH THE INSPECTORS. FROM THE REVIEW IT WAS LEARNED THAT THE LAST ANNUAL INSPECTION ON THE AIRCRAFT WAS COMPLETED ON 6/7/02, WITH AN AIRCRAFT TIME OF 3390.49 AT THAT TIME. FURTHER REVIEW INDICATED STC #SE09017SC HAD BEEN COMPLETED ON THIS AIRCRAFT BY TEXAS SKYWAYS, INC ON 4/9/95, CHANGING THE INSTALLED ENGINE TO A ISO520FH8B/TS ENGINE (S/N 812483-R). THIS IS A FUEL-INJECTED ENGINE. ON 2/26/98, THE ENGINE WAS FURTHER MODIFIED BY FORM 337, TO CHANGE TO A MARVEL-SCHEBLER MA 4-5 CARBURETOR (S/NBD-0-931). THE RECORDS REVIEWED AND THE MANUALS FOUND IN THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT INDICATE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENGINE AS MODIFIED, FOR THE PILOT TO USE IN MAKING FUEL REQUIRED CALCULATIONS. MR. MEADOWS, WHO ALSO PILOTS A CE-182, STATED THAT AS A RULE-OF-THUMB, HE WOULD FIGURE ON 18 GALLONS PER HOUR (GPH) RATE FOR THE APPROXIMATE 20 MINUTE CLIMB TO 5500 FEET ALTITUDE THAT MR. COCKRELL HAD INDICATED HE HAD CRUISED. IN CRUISE AT THAT ALTITUDE, MR. MEADOWS FIGURES ON 16.5 GPH. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT MANUAL FOR THIS TYPE AIRCRAFT, THE FUEL CAPACITY IS 55 GALLONS, WITH 3 GALLONS OF THE 55 CONSIDERED UNUSABLE. USING MR. MEADOWS' BURN RATED THE AIRCRAFT WOULD USE 6 GALLONS IN THE 20-MINUTE CLIMB AND AT 16.5 GPH COULD THEN CRUISE 2 HOURS AND 47 MINUTES UNTIL DRY TANKS. THIS WOULD RESULT IN A TOTAL FLIGHT TIME POSSIBLE OF 3 HOURS AND 7 MINUTES. FROM THE ATC RECORD OF THIS FLIGHT, MR. COCKRELL DEPARTED THE DELAND, FL AIRPORT AT 2337 EDT AND IMPACTED THE TREES SOUTH OF THE SILER CITY AIRPORT AT ABOUT 0159 EDT, 3 HOURS AND 22 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF. 14 CFR SECTION 91.151(A)(2) REQUIRES THAT A PERSON BEGIN A VFR FLIGHT WITH ENOUGH FUEL, CONSIDERING FORECAST WIND AND WEATHER CONDITIONS, TO FLY TO THE FIRST POINT OF INTENDED LANDING AND ASSUMING NORMAL CRUISING SPEED, AT NIGHT, TO FLY AFTER THAT FOR 45 MINUTES. TO COMPLY WITH THIS REGULATION, USING THE FUEL BURN ESTIMATES OF MR. MEADOWS, MR. COCKRELL WOULD HAVE TO BE ABLE TO REACH HIS FIRST POINT OF INTENDED LANDING FOR A NIGHT FLIGHT IN 2 HOURS AND 22 MINUTES. IN A PHONE CONVERSATION WITH ^PRIVAC^ ^PRIVACY ^, WHO HAD SOLD THE C-182 AIRCRAFT TO MR. COCKRELL THE DAY OF THE ILL-FATED TRIP, HE SAID THAT WITH THE LARGER 520 ENGINE ON THIS AIRCRAFT IT BURNED MORE FUEL AND HE ESTIMATED A CRUISE FUEL USAGE OF ABOUT 16 GPH. HE ALSO QUESTIONED THE WISDOM OF OPERATING AN AIRCRAFT UP TO THE LIMITS, ON YOUR FIRST FLIGHT IN IT, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. ANOTHER WAY OF COMPUTING BASED ON MR. COCKRELL'S ACTUAL FLIGHT IS AS FOLLOWS: IT TOOK HIM 3H22M TO COVER THE 415MM BEFORE THE ENGINE QUIT=AVERAGE SPEED OF 123.27 KNOTS. ASSUMING THIS TO BE THE MAXIMUM TANKS-DRY RANGE, THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE WITH 45MINUTE RESERVE WOULD BE 3H22M-45M=2H37M. AT 123.27 KTS, THE AIRCRAFT WOULD TRAVEL 322.6 NM IN THE 2H37M, 97 MILES SHORT OF HIS PLANNED FIRST STOP. IN EITHER COMPUTATION SCENARIO, MR. COCKRELL DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO COMPLY WITH THE 45-MINUTE RESERVE REQUIRED FOR A NIGHT VFR FLIGHT. IN FACT, HE DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO COMPLETE THE TRIP WITHOUT ANY RESERVE FUEL. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB MIA02LA123](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA02LA123), Jul 2, 2002: Cessna CE-182-A (N9996B), Siler City, NC, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.