Cessna 310Q N8226

Summary

On 19 October 1996 at about 03:01 local time, a Cessna 310Q registered N8226 was involved in an accident near Pasadena, Maryland, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 October 1996 at 03:01

Classification

Accident

Location

Pasadena, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Baltimore-Washington (BWI)

Coordinates

39.1596, -76.5999

Aircraft

Cessna 310Q

Registration

N8226

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chesterfield → Baltimore

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC97LA007

1 person was seriously injured.

the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation and inadequate management of the airplane's fuel supply, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a forced landing at night. Factors related to the accident were: an inaccurate fuel quantity indicating system, darkness, and trees in the emergency landing area.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on the first of three legs with an undetermined amount of fuel. He reported to the passenger that the fuel quantity indicating system was inaccurate, but that he knew how much fuel was on board. After flying two legs and purchasing a total of 50 gallons enroute, the airplane departed with what the pilot estimated was a two-hour fuel load for an anticipated one hour final leg to BWI. The passenger reported that the airplane had intercepted the localizer course for the ILS Runway 28 Approach at BWI at 3000 feet. He said, 'All of a sudden the aircraft started yawing violently left to right, because both engines were alternating power, then no power. [The pilot] asked, 'Which engine is failing?' and I said 'they're both failing, you're out of fuel.' He tried to access fuel in the [auxiliary] tanks but there was no fuel anywhere in the aircraft.' Both engines subsequently stopped producing power, and the aircraft descended into wooded terrain. The airplane had been aloft for about 1 hour and 40 minutes when the engines stopped producing power. There was no fuel nor evidence of fuel found at the accident site.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.