Beechcraft A36 N729P

Summary

On 8 June 2007 at about 14:02 local time, a Beechcraft A36 registered N729P, operated by Alvin D. Hale, was involved in an accident near Gallatin, Tennessee, United States. 4 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured, 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 June 2007 at 14:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Gallatin, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Sumner County (M33)

Coordinates

36.4067, -86.3589

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36

Registration

N729P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Alvin D. Hale

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gallatin → Knoxville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07LA134

2 people were seriously injured.

The pilot’s mismanagement of fuel which led to fuel starvation and loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to utilize the proper engine restart procedures, and the hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane departed an airport in visual meteorological conditions, and approaching the destination airport, the pilot opted to return to the departure airport due to weather. As the airplane was descending toward the departure airport, the engine lost power, and the pilot performed a forced landing to a field, where he landed hard. The pilot indicated that he had flown the return leg utilizing fuel from the right tank, switched to the left tank before the descent, and the engine failed during the descent. Postflight examinations of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Approximately 1 gallon of fuel was drained from the right wing tank, and 11 gallons of fuel were drained from the left wing tank, with no indication of fuel leakage from either tank. According to the airplane’s operating handbook, there were 3 gallons of unusable fuel in each tank. The fuel selector was found on the left tank at the accident site, and when removed for examination, fuel flowed from all connecting lines except the right main tank. Although the pilot had switched to the left fuel tank at some point, he did not utilize the boost pump (auxiliary fuel pump) as required in the procedures for an engine restart.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.