- Date
- March 30, 1985, 20:02 local (Mar 31, 1985, 01:02 UTC)
- Place
- Roanoke, VA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8233RBellanca 17-30A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850330076199A
- Case key
- 11130
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Analysis
The plt reported he ran a fuel tank dry during flt at 6000 ft. he switched fuel tanks, turned on the boost pump & manip-ulated the eng controls, but was unable to restart the eng. During a forced landing on I-581, the acft struck a pickup truck (traveling in the same drctn), then veered into an embankment. None of the occupants in the truck were injured. Anexam revealed all fuel tanks contained fuel except the l main tank. The boost pump sw was fnd in the 'prime' position, a condition which could cause flooding of the eng. Details of air restart procedure & boost pump position nomenclature differ between manuals/acft markings. Fuel management for the 4 tanks required positioning 2 selector valves thru 6 possible positions. Two fuel gages were installed; 1 was for the 2 main tanks, the other was for the 2 aux tanks. The gages indicated only the quantity of fuel in the selected tank. The other gage read empty when neither of its respectivetanks were selected. Flt manual provided only limited info on fuel sys. Plt's face injured, no shoulder harness instld.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8233R
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-30A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17-30414
- Airframe hours
- 1,623
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-K, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James R. Montgomery
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 16, 1984 · 55 hours before
- Departed
- RIC · Richmond, VA
- Destination
- BCB · Blacksburg, VA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ROA · Roanoke Muni
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,018 total · 180 in this make and model · 810 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 150° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ROA, 3 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.