- Date
- September 5, 2011, 19:10 local (Sep 6, 2011, 00:10 UTC)
- Place
- Damon, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N742LBBeech 95-B55 (T42A)
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 13, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Houston FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110905020059A
- Case key
- 81755
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 fuel management during cruise flight, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The airplane was in level cruise flight, about 2,300 feet above ground level, when both engines experienced a simultaneous complete loss of power. The pilot reported he was unable to restart either engine and established a glide for an emergency landing on a county road. During the landing, the airplane impacted thick mesquite bushes about 150 feet short of the intended landing spot and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported that he failed to notice that the fuel selector for the right engine was in the “cross feed” position and that both engines were using fuel from the left fuel tank until the fuel in the left tank was depleted. Approximately 35 gallons of fuel was observed in the right fuel tank after the accident.
Factual narrative
The airplane was in level cruise flight, about 2,300 feet above ground level (agl), when both engines had a simultaneous complete loss of power. The pilot reported he was unable to restart either engine and established a glide for an emergency off field landing on a county road. The airplane impacted flat terrain in thick mesquite bushes about 150 feet short of the intended landing spot and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported that he had failed to notice the fuel selector for the right engine was in the “cross feed” position and that both engines were using fuel from the left fuel tank until the fuel in the left tank was depleted. Approximately 35 gallons of fuel were found in the right fuel tank after the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N742LB
- Reported as
- Beech 95-B55 (T42A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC-1963
- Airframe hours
- 3,745
- Engines
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocatingCont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 2011 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- BYY · Bay City, TX
- Destination
- SGR · Sugar Land, TX
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 12, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,089 total · 492 in this make and model · 1,021 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.81 inHg
- Observed at
- KLBX, 18 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 31, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 895 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.