- Date
- May 1, 1994, 16:15 local (May 2, 1994, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- Gustavus, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N441BBeech 35
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 26, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19940501009659A
- Case key
- 2498
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot-in-command's delay in selecting the main fuel tank position. The lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing was a factor.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot switched from his auxiliary fuel tank to his left main fuel tank when the engine stopped producing power. He had to ditch in the bay. The pilot said he thought the engine failed due to fuel mismanagement.
Factual narrative
On May 1, 1994, at 1615 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, N441B, registered to and operated by the Pilot-in-Command, experienced a non-mechanical engine failure and was forced to ditch in the water approximately 5 miles east of Gustavus, Alaska. The personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Juneau, Alaska, and the destination was Gustavus. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The Private certificated Pilot-in-Command and his passenger were not injured and the airplane sank in the water.
According to the Pilot-in-Command, he was attempting to use up the fuel in the auxiliary fuel tanks. He stated that he felt the engine failed at the same time he switched to the left main fuel tank. The airplane came to rest between the low and high tide lines.
According to Ned Horne, FAA, FSDO 05, Juneau, Alaska, the Pilot-in-Command informally admitted that the engine did not fail due to a mechanical reason but due to fuel mismanagement.
The Pilot-in-Command did not submit an NTSB 6120.1/2.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N441B
- Reported as
- Beech 35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-5943
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Rohweder, Gary A
- Registered owner
- Rohweder, Gary A.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- JNU · Juneau, AK
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 275 total · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GST, 5 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N441B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.