NTSB Factual Report

On July 2, 2002, about 0158, eastern daylight time, a Cessna CE-182-A, N9996B, registered to and operated by Adrenalin Air Sports as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 ferry flight, crashed about 1 mile south of the Siler City Municipal Airport, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane incurred substantial damage, and the private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, received serious injuries. The flight originated from Deland Municipal-Sydney H Taylor Field, Deland, Florida, the previous day, about 2237.

The pilot stated that he had recently purchased the airplane in Deland, Florida, and was ferrying it to Southeast Greensboro Airport, Greensboro, North Carolina. He said that he was en route to the Siler City Municipal Airport, Siler City, North Carolina, for a scheduled fuel stop, and was approaching the airport at an altitude of about 5,500 feet, when the engine ceased operating. He said after the engine ceased developing power, the propeller continued to windmill, and added that it did not run rough, or sputter. It just ceased operating. He said he made several attempts to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful. The airplane crashed about 1 mile short of the approach end of runway 04 at the Siler City Municipal Airport. The pilot stated that prior to the accident there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems.

The pilot said that when he departed from Deland, Florida, the fuel tanks had been topped off, and he had 55 gallons of usable fuel on board the airplane. He stated that as the flight progressed, he monitored his progress, and based upon information obtained from his Global Positioning System receiver, as well as what the previous owner had told him the fuel consumption was for the airplane, he had cancelled his backup fuel stop at Walterboro, South Carolina. He also stated that at some during the course of the flight, FAA Fayetteville Approach Contrail had given him a deviation for weather, but added that "this was not a concern."

FAA transcript of communications showed that at 0154, the pilot contacted the Greensboro Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) controller, stating that he needed a vector to Siler City, and that he had an "engine issue." After the controller provided assistance, at 0156:56, the pilot said "I need to get on the ground boss." That was the last radio communications transmission between the ATCT controller and the pilot of N9996B. At 0559:41, during a conversation with Raleigh-Durham AFSS, in an attempt to obtain information about N9996B, the controller stated that N9996B had stopped answering him at 1,700 feet, about 11/2 miles southwest of Siler City.

The FAA inspector who responded to the accident scene stated that during his postcrash examination of the airplane and accident scene, there was little or no fuel found. An FAA licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic with Airways Inc., Climax, North Carolina, who assisted the FAA inspector at the scene stated that a total of 0.877 gallons of fuel was found in the airplane.

At the time of the accident the pilot had accumulated 268 flight hours and he possessed a private pilot certificate, with an airplane single land rating.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the loss of engine power.