- Date
- March 29, 2008, 06:05 local (13:05 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4833JBeechcraft 35-C33A
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080329832559A
- Case key
- 67738
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 pilot's improper preflight and failure to select a tank containing fuel before takeoff.
Findings · 5
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 was departing on an early morning flight and said that he performed his preflight and pretakeoff checklists. During the takeoff roll, he realized that he had forgotten to switch the fuel tank from the left tank (containing less than 1 gallon of fuel) to the right tank (containing about 35 gallons of fuel). The pilot switched the fuel tank selector from the left tank to the right tank during the takeoff roll, and during the initial climb, the engine sputtered and lost power. The pilot force-landed the airplane off the end of the runway. During the forced landing, the airplane collided with a fence post and incurred substantial damage to the left wing. Following the accident, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the fuel transfer system on the airplane and successfully test ran the engine. No mechanical anomalies were identified.
Factual narrative
The pilot was departing on an early morning flight. He performed his preflight and pretakeoff checklists. During the takeoff roll, he realized that he had forgotten to switch the fuel tank from the left tank (containing less than 1 gallon of fuel) to the right tank (containing about 35 gallons of fuel). The pilot switched the fuel tank selector from the left tank to the right tank during the takeoff roll, and during the initial climb, the engine sputtered and lost power. The pilot force-landed the airplane off the end of the runway. During the forced landing, the airplane collided with a fence post and incurred substantial damage to the left wing. Following the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the fuel transfer system on the airplane and successfully test ran the engine. No mechanical anomalies were identified.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4833J
- Reported as
- Beechcraft 35-C33A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- CE-118
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental IO-520, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Donald Carter
- Registered owner
- B-C Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PRC · Prescott, AZ
- Destination
- FFZ · Mesa, AZ
- Airport
- PRC · Ernest A. Love Field Airport, runway 21L, 7,550 × 150 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 797 total · 453 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.