posted October 10, 2007
A pilot who crash landed a Beech B90 airplane at the parking lot of the Brainerd Village Shopping Center thought he had plenty of fuel when he took off from Birmingham, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The report of the Sept. 17 incident says pilot Gregory Jones stated that during the preflight inspection of the airplane before flying to Birmingham he observed all four fuel gauges were between the 3/4 and the full position. He believed that the airplane had been topped off prior to the last flight.
On arrival at Birmingham he said he was not concerned about the fuel because he believed he had approximately three hours of fuel for the one hour and 20 minute flight home to Lexington, Ky.
The report says the pilot stated that before departing for the flight back, he only looked at the right two full gauges. He said the nacelle tank was between 1/2 and 3/4 and the wing tank was "pegged".
According to the pilot, "This sometimes happened on start up, and then would settle down."
He stated, "This seemed consistent with what I thought should be on the aircraft."
The report says the pilot, with three passengers, departed Birmigham en route to Lexington. He stated that as he was leveling off he "happened to look at the two left gauges and noticed that they were practically empty." He said that he "processed this for a minute and pulled up Lovell Field Airport on the GPS."
He saw that the Chattanooga airport was 45 miles away, and he was at flight level 210, with approximately 50 gallons of fuel on board. He said he believed this was easy enough to make, so he requested a change in destination from air traffic control and diverted towards Chattanooga.
While on his short final approach, the left engine "quit" first, followed immediately by the right engine, the report says.
The pilot then made an emergency landing in the parking lot, striking a light pole and several vehicles.
All the occupants of the airplane exited through the main cabin door with some assistance.
The pilot stated that he did not have any mechanical or flight control issues with the airplane prior to making the emergency landing.
Witnesses reported that the airplane was flying over the parking lot at a very low altitude. The witnesses stated that the airplane "crash landed" and collided with a few cars before coming to a stop against the light pole. The witnesses assisted the pilot and passengers out of the airplane.
Emergency responders to the accident scene reported that there was a small amount of fuel spillage.
Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that the nacelle tanks and wing tanks were empty of fuel.
The pilot and the three passengers have all been released from the hospital.
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