Cessna 402B N3990C

Summary

On 22 July 2008 at about 17:50 local time, a Cessna 402B registered N3990C, operated by Laurent M. Gillot, was involved in an accident near Ocean Ridge, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 July 2008 at 17:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Ocean Ridge, Florida, United States

Coordinates

26.5183, -80.0417

Aircraft

Cessna 402B

Registration

N3990C

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Laurent M. Gillot

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lantana → Pompano Beach

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08LA255

1 person was seriously injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to add only a limited amount of fuel prior to the flight, and the fuel selector valve placards' inaccurate depiction of the airplane fuel tank configuration.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot, who was also the former owner of the twin-engine airplane, stated that the purpose of the flight was to reposition the airplane to an airport approximately 22 miles south of the departure airport. Just prior to the flight, he purchased 10 gallons of fuel for each of the two main tanks. The pilot reported that about 5 minutes after takeoff, at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet, he experienced a "loss of engine power." However, his three separate accounts of the event were inconsistent with respect to which engine had a problem, or the specific nature of the problem. The pilot reported that the airplane started to lose altitude "rapidly," and that he attempted to "wag the wings" in order to "get all the fuel to be useable." The airplane struck a building and terrain approximately 8 miles south of the departure airport. The pilot sustained serious injuries, but there was no fire. Damage to the left engine and propeller was consistent with the engine running at impact, and precluded an attempt to run the left engine in a test cell. Damage to the right engine and propeller was consistent with low or no power at impact. The right engine was subsequently successfully run in a test cell. No evidence of any pre-accident anomalies that could have contributed to the accident was noted with the airframe, engines, or propellers. The fuel selector valve placards did not accurately depict the fuel system configuration. The fuel quantity and its distribution in the tanks, either at the beginning of the flight or at the time of the accident, could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.