- Date
- September 6, 2018, 07:25 local (13:25 UTC)
- Place
- Laramie, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N376JCessna T310
- Defining event
- Enroute-climb to cruise: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180906013209A
- Case key
- 98254
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 properly adjust the fuel/air mixtures, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power to both engines due to fuel starvation and a subsequent forced landing to a field.
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 pilot departed in the multiengine airplane and climbed to cruise altitude. He began to lean the fuel mixture for cruise power and felt a vibration and fluttering. He then slowed the airplane, began to troubleshoot the problem and turned back toward the airport; but when he advanced the throttles to takeoff power, there was no response from engines. The pilot stated that the airplane was “losing altitude fast,” and he attempted to glide the airplane to the interstate for an emergency landing. Unable to reach the interstate, the pilot subsequently performed a gear-up, forced landing to a field, during which the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that he was distracted by the vibration and noise and he failed to enrichen the fuel mixtures after beginning the leaning procedure. He stated that there were no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded the engines from producing full power, and that the vibration was the result of the engines running rough due to lack of fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N376J
- Reported as
- Cessna T310 (R)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310R-0668
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 5,034
- Engines
- Continental TSIO520BB, 285 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental TSIO520BB, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- DBT Transportation Services LLC
- Registered owner
- DBT Transportation Services LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 20, 2018
- Departed
- KLAR · Laramie, WY
- Destination
- KGIC · Grangeville, ID
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LAR
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system, ADS-B
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 28, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,606 total · 6,916 in this make and model · 12,377 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.42 inHg
- Observed at
- KLAR
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 1, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB 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.