- Date
- October 12, 2006, 10:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ontario, OR
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N94LLBeech E-55
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 26, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20061012023869A
- Case key
- 64695
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 dual loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's failure to adequately determine the amount of fuel aboard the airplane during his preflight preparation. A contributing factor was the pilot's misjudgment of distance/speed during the forced landing, which resulted in a runway overrun.
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
According to the pilot, he departed thinking the airplane had 115 gallons of fuel aboard, when it had 55 gallons of fuel aboard. The shortfall of 60 gallons was the result of a refueling request that the pilot made to a fixed base operator that did not take place and that the pilot did not verify had taken place. Fuel exhaustion occurred in both engines when the airplane was approximately 7,500 feet above an airport. The pilot spiraled down over the airport and entered the pattern for runway 14. He intentionally elected "to err on the side of landing long and not have any risk of being short." On short final, the airplane was "clearly high and fast, pretty much as expected, but not slowing, which was not expected." The airplane touched down approximately 1,000 feet prior to the end of the runway, overran the runway end, impacted a concrete irrigation channel about 350 feet from the runway end, and came to a stop approximately 200 feet past the channel.
Factual narrative
On October 12, 2006, at 1030 mountain daylight time, a Beech E-55, N94LL, experienced a loss of power in both engines and overran the runway during the ensuing forced landing at Ontario Municipal Airport, Ontario, Oregon. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the airline transport pilot and his passenger sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal cross country flight. The flight originated from Friday Harbor, Washington, about 0730 Pacific daylight time with an intended destination of Nampa, Idaho.
According to the pilot, he departed thinking the airplane had 115 gallons of fuel aboard, when it had 55 gallons of fuel aboard. The shortfall of 60 gallons was the result of a refueling request that the pilot made to a fixed base operator that did not take place and that the pilot did not verify had taken place. Fuel exhaustion occurred in both engines when the airplane was approximately 7,500 feet above the Ontario Airport. The pilot spiraled down over the airport and entered the pattern for runway 14. He intentionally elected "to err on the side of landing long and not have any risk of being short." On short final, the airplane was "clearly high and fast, pretty much as expected, but not slowing, which was not expected." The airplane touched down approximately 1,000 feet prior to the end of the runway, overran the runway end, impacted a concrete irrigation channel about 350 feet from the runway end, and came to a stop approximately 200 feet past the channel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N94LL
- Reported as
- Beech E-55
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TE-1080
- Engines
- Teledyne Continental IO-520-C7B, reciprocatingTeledyne Continental IO-520-C7B, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- FHR · Friday Harbor, WA
- Destination
- S67 · Nampa, ID
- Airport
- ONO · Ontario Municipal, runway 14
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
- 65
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 6,665 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 115 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.