- Date
- June 8, 1991, 17:05 local (22:05 UTC)
- Place
- Kankakee, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4374KRyan Navion A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910608020469A
- Case key
- 15090
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 poor in flight planning/decision making and misjudged fuel supply. A related factor is the inadequate emergency procedure.
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
The airplane was within 10 miles of the destination airport when the engine quit due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot made a hard forced landing in a cornfield. The pilot stated that the main fuel tanks were topped off (40 gallons) when the flight originated. His flight planning indicated the trip would take 2 1/3 hours, and his estimated fuel flow was 13.1 gallons per hour. The accident occurred 2 1/4 hours after takeoff. The pilot noted that the fuel quantity gauge was indicating lower than he expected during the flight, but he continued toward his destination, judging his available fuel by the duration of the flight. He stated that the airplane's fuel system was such that the main fuel tanks could appear full before they actually were, and mislead refuellers.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4374K
- Reported as
- Ryan Navion A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1374
- Airframe hours
- 1,665
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-H, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Merton L. Townsend
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 22, 1990 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- TVC · Traverse City, MI
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 125 in this make and model · 1,400 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.