- Date
- June 10, 1995, 21:00 local (Jun 11, 1995, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N139FGrumman G-44
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19950610017849A
- Case key
- 2661
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's failure to refuel the airplane, and his improper remedial action(s) which lead to fuel starvation.
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 reported the amphibian airplane's left engine lost power while in cruise flight due to 'fuel exhaustion'. He said he turned the fuel crossfeed on, but failed to shut the fuel selector for the left engine off, which subsequently caused the right engine to quit. He was able to restore power to the right engine, but was too low to regain sufficient altitude to avoid landing hard on a small lake.
Factual narrative
On June 10, 1995, about 2100 Alaska daylight time, an amphibian Grumman G-44 airplane, N139F, operated by Fresh Water Adventures as a personal, 14 CFR Part 91 flight, sustained substantial damage during a hard landing on an unnamed lake located approximately 15 miles northeast of Dillingham, Alaska. Neither the airline transport certificated pilot, or the two passengers aboard were injured. The flight originated in Anchorage, Alaska, and the intended destination was Dillingham, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the vicinity of the crash site.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in- charge on June 12, the pilot stated that the left engine lost power due to "fuel exhaustion". He said he turned the fuel crossfeed on when the left engine lost power, but failed to shut the fuel supply to the left engine off, which he said resulted in a loss of power in the right engine also. He restored power to the right engine, but was too low to regain altitude prior to landing hard on a small lake.
The pilot said the loss of engine power was due to "fuel exhaustion" and fuel mismanagement, and not a mechanical problem with the airplane or its systems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N139F
- Reported as
- Grumman G-44
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1375
- Airframe hours
- 5,151
- Engine
- Continental IO-470, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Phillip Bingman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 5, 1995 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- ANC · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- DLG
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,270 total · 600 in this make and model · 1,110 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 100 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
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 N139F · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.