- Date
- February 4, 1989, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Clearwater, FL
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3697QBeech A23-24
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890204015839A
- Case key
- 32272
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
Fuel starvation due to the CFI depleting the fuel supply from one of two tanks and failing to select the fullest tank for landing. Contributing to the accident was the cfi's improper decision to turn back to the airport when insufficient altitude was available to complete the maneuver.
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
On final apch after a trng flt, an acft was still on the rwy, so CFI told 30 hr student plt to go-arnd. Power was applied & witnesses on grnd heard eng rev up ok. About 1/2 way down rwy at about 200 ft, the eng sputtered & CFI tried a 180 deg turn back to rwy. Acft hit fences and const material & burst into flames. Fuel sel was found out of detent but on lt tank which holds 30 gals, 26 gals usable. The acft burns about 8 gph & had flown for a total of about 4 hrs since topped off to 60 gals capacity. No fuel found in fuel manifold & eng was test run ok after accident. Lt wing tank area had less fire damage than rt wing area which contained more fuel. The stu plt recalled the fuel sel being on the lt tank; the CFI said he thought it was on the rt tank. The CFI stated that he had no recollection after the eng quit except being in a chopper on the way to a hospital.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3697Q
- Reported as
- Beech A23-24
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- MA-280
- Airframe hours
- 1,856
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary,Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 1989 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- CLW · Clearwater, FL
- Airport
- CLW · Clearwater, runway 33, 3,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 66
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 35 in this make and model · 50 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PIE, 6 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.