- Date
- October 21, 1991, 21:10 local (Oct 22, 1991, 02:10 UTC)
- Place
- Pelham, AL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N99CKBeech 58
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911021051139A
- Case key
- 8485
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 correct the position of the fuel selector before takeoff, and her inattentiveness to fuel consumption during the flight, which resulted in fuel starvation. Factors were the non-performance of engine out emergency procedures and the dark, night conditions.
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 airplane had been fueled to capacity then flown on multiple flights. At the last stop 18 gallons of fuel was added to each wing tank, which gave 60 gallons total, the pilot said. As the pilot prepared to leave, the left fuel boost pump was discovered to be inoperative. The pilot told a mechanic that she tried to start the left engine by placing the left fuel selector on the left engine & the right fuel selector to crossfeed. Since the right boost pump is downstream, between the right engine & the fuel selector, it would not pressurize fuel to the left engine. The left boost pump was replaced & the pilot departed. Approaching the destination the pilot reported a loss of engine power & crashed in an open field. The throttle quadrant was not set for an engine malfunction. No fuel was found in the left wing tank. The left fuel selector was in the left tank position and the right fuel selector was in the crossfeed position, so that both engines would have been fed from the left wing tank.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99CK
- Reported as
- Beech 58
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TH-1125
- Airframe hours
- 3,646
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-CB, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Executive/Corporate · Part 91
- Operator
- Green Hills Aviation Co., Inc.
- Registered owner
- Green Hills Aviation Co., Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 2, 1991 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- PFN · Panama City, FL
- Destination
- BHM · Birmingham, AL
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,435 total · 742 in this make and model · 3,396 as pilot in command · 82 in the last 90 days · 36 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 120° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BHM, 14 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.