- Date
- September 8, 2023, 18:41 local (23:41 UTC)
- Place
- Elk Grove Village, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N220KWBeech B200
- Defining event
- Approach: Fuel exhaustion
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20230908013419A
- Case key
- 193042
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 planning, that resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and a subsequent forced landing. Also causal was the pilot’s decision to go around with minimum fuel.
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 reported that he had completed a charter flight and departed to pick up new passengers at an airport about 200 nautical miles away. While on approach to the destination airport, the previous passengers notified the pilot that they were ready to be picked up, so the pilot did not land and turned the airplane back toward the departure airport. The pilot climbed to 10,000 ft and noticed the airplane’s fuel burn was high, so he climbed to 16,000 ft. The pilot reported that “everything was routine until about a 3-mile final” to the runway, when the controller asked the pilot to slow to a final approach speed. An airplane was still on the runway, so the controller told the pilot to go around. The pilot told controllers twice that he had minimum fuel available. The pilot continued on a visual approach for the same runway when the right engine lost power followed by the left engine. He feathered both propellers and made a forced landing to a wooded area. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot later stated that he was “trying to do too much with too little” fuel and the accident was a result of poor fuel management. Although the controller directed the pilot to go around, the pilot should have recognized the criticality of the minimum fuel situation and landed the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N220KW
- Reported as
- Beech B200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- BB-1120
- Built
- 1983
- Airframe hours
- 9,817
- Engines
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42, 850 horsepower, turbo propPratt & Whitney PT6A-42, 850 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Onyx Flight, Inc, doing business as AirChoice
- Registered owner
- Airselect LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Condition · January 11, 2023
- Departed
- ORD · Chicago, IL
- Destination
- ORD · Chicago, IL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ORD · Chicago O'Hare Intl, runway 9L, 7,500 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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
- 36
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 21, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 3,394 total · 156.4 in this make and model · 3,252 as pilot in command · 32.7 in the last 90 days · 17.1 in the last 30 days · 1.7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KORD, 4 nm away
- METAR
- KORD 082351Z 02011KT 10SM FEW021 BKN044 18/13 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP191 60001 T01830133 10200 20178 50004
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 17, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.3 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.