Beechcraft A36 N40KG

Summary

On 23 September 2013 at about 16:37 local time, a Beechcraft A36 registered N40KG, operated by Fourstars Aviation, was involved in an accident near Wellington, Florida, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 September 2013 at 16:37

Classification

Accident

Location

Wellington, Florida, United States

Coordinates

26.6472, -80.3319

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36

Registration

N40KG

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Fourstars Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Herndon → Boca Raton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA428

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of engine power due to an interruption in fuel flow, which was most likely due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane while performing the subsequent forced landing to a wet roadway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed for a planned 4-hour instrument flight rules, cross-country flight, and about 5 hours 13 minutes into the flight, the engine lost power. The pilot reported that he then landed the airplane on a wet roadway and lost directional control as the wheels hydroplaned on the wet surface. The airplane subsequently struck a sign and electrical power pole, resulting in substantial damage. The quantity of fuel onboard the airplane at the time of the accident could not be determined due to damage sustained to the airframe during the accident. Although the pilot advised an air traffic controller during the forced landing, "I believe I ran out of fuel," at least 12 usable gallons should have remained based on the amount of fuel the pilot reported the airplane had before departing on the flight and the total fuel use calculated by an onboard fuel flow indicator. A postaccident test run of the engine showed that it started normally and ran with no anomalies noted. Download of non-volatile memory from an engine monitoring device showed that the loss of engine power was immediately preceded by a rise in exhaust gas temperature and a rapid reduction in fuel flow, consistent with an interruption of fuel flow. The pilot did not report the position of the fuel selector before the loss of engine power, and its preaccident position could not be determined because the pilot had selected it to the off position before egressing the airplane after the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.