| Crash location | 31.683611°N, 83.270278°W |
| Nearest city | Fitzgerald, GA
31.714908°N, 83.252655°W 2.4 miles away |
| Tail number | N115HF |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 18 Jan 2003 |
| Aircraft type | Beech 65 |
| Additional details: | None |
On January 18, 2003, at 1307 eastern standard time, a Beech 65, N115HF, registered to JAP Air LLC, and operated by a private pilot, collided with the ground during a forced landing following a dual engine loss of power near Fitzgerald, Georgia. The personal flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with an instrument flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot and his three passengers were not injured. The instrument flight departed Lawrenceville, Georgia, on January 18, 2003 at 1200.
According to the pilot, prior to departing Lawrenceville, Georgia, the airplane had been topped off with fuel. The flight was uneventful until he switched fuel tanks from the main tanks to the auxiliary tanks near Macon, Georgia. Several minutes after the fuel selectors were switched the pilot reported a loss of left engine power. The pilot then switched back to the main tanks. The pilot declared an emergency and requested radar vectors to the nearest airport. While enroute to the nearest airport, the pilot switched back to the auxiliary tanks and shortly after, the right engine lost power. The pilot selected an open field and attempted a forced landing. During the attempted landing, the nose wheel assembly collapsed and the left wing assembly collided with a tree.
According to the fixed base operator, Aircraft Specialist Jet Center, at Lawrenceville, Georgia, 160 gallons of fuel was purchased for the airplane three days prior to the accident. Their refueling records showed no additional refueling on the day of the accident. According to the Operator's Manual for this airplane, after takeoff and once level cruise has been established, the fuel supply for the engines should be changed from the main tanks to the auxiliary tanks. During the post-accident examination of both engines, they started and ran without any anomalies reported. A total of sixty gallons of fuel was recovered from the airplane during the recovery from the accident site.
Examination of the airplane revealed nose wheel and left wing damage. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane before the accident. The post-accident examination of the airplane failed to disclose a mechanical problem.
The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel supply that resulted in fuel starvation and the loss of engine power in both engines. A factor was a tree.