- Date
- June 15, 1996, 11:40 local (15:40 UTC)
- Place
- Rome, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3203RCessna 411
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960615013969A
- Case key
- 3733
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 improper planning/decision, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power in both engines, due to an inadequate supply of fuel.
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
After a normal parachute drop at 13,000 feet, the pilot initiated a descent. As the airplane descended to 2300 feet, both engines lost power. Unable to restart either engine, the pilot initiated an emergency landing to runway 9 at the departure airport. However, before reaching the runway, the airplane collided with vegetation and the airport perimeter fence. An examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical problem. No usable fuel was found in the fuel system during the postaccident examination.
Factual narrative
On June 15, 1996, at 1140 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 411, N3203R, collided with all vegetation while maneuvering for an emergency landing to runway 09 at the Richard B. Russell Airport in Rome, Georgia. The parachute drop flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the pilot was not injured. The flight departed Rome, Georgia, at 1119.
According to the pilot, a normal parachute drop was made from 13,000 feet, afterward, he initiated a descent. As the airplane descended to 2300 feet, both engines quit. After several failed attempts to restart both engines, the pilot attempted an emergency landing to runway 09 at Rome. The airplane collided with tall vegetation and the airport perimeter fence while maneuvering for the emergency landing.
An examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical problem. There was no fuel recovered from the fuel system during the wreckage examination (see attached Inspector's Statement).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3203R
- Reported as
- Cessna 411
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 411-203
- Engine
- Continental GTSIO-520-C, 340 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Buffey Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 5, 1995 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- RMG
- Airport
- RMG · Russell Airport, runway 19, 6,000 × 150 ft, macadam
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
- 27
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 969 total · 9 in this make and model · 687 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CHA, 35 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.