NTSB Factual Report

History of Flight

On March 19, 1994, about 1355 eastern standard time, a Cessna 414, N1576T, piloted by Mr. E. James Hogan, collided with the terrain while on final approach to Defiance Airport, Defiance, Ohio. The pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91.

The airplane had departed Lancaster, Pennsylvania, about 1030, enroute to Defiance, Ohio, a distance of approximately 420 statute miles, in order for the pilot to sell the airplane.

A friend of Mr. Hogan flew another airplane, and departed at the same time, for the purpose of flying Mr. Hogan back to Pennsylvania, after he briefed the new owner. The pilot of the other airplane, Mr. Ernest Buyok, said that he was in radio contact with Mr. Hogan, and that Mr. Hogan did not give him any indications of any problems. Mr. Buyok was not aware that N1576T had crashed until after he arrived at Defiance, and was told of the accident.

According to Mr. Buyok, on the day of the flight he did a pre- flight on the airplane he was to fly, and Mr. Hogan did a pre-flight on his own airplane. Mr. Buyok did not see Mr. Hogan's airplane fueled for the flight, but according to Mr. Buyok, Mr. Hogan told him he had fuel for the flight. Mr. Buyok said they taxied out and departed about 1030. Hogan's airplane was faster and N1576T got about one hour ahead of the airplane Buyok was flying. According to Lancaster Flight Center, N1576T was filled with 112 gallons of fuel on March 17, 1994.

Just prior to the accident the airplane was seen on final approach to runway 30. Witnesses observed the airplane flying in an erratic manner at a low altitude, and impact the ground.

Two children riding in their fathers car wrote:

...[we saw the airplane] going up and down toward the ground. We could hear a faint clicking noise, and the propellers were going around slowly. No landing gear were sighted...we could not hear the engine running when it crashed, but we were in the car...the plane took a short nosedive and crashed. It wasn't going very fast and it was pretty level to the ground....

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight at approximately 41 degrees, 20 minutes north, and 84 degrees, 25 minutes west.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

An autopsy was performed on Mr. E. James Hogan, on March 21, 1994, at the Medical Examiner's Office, in Toledo, Ohio, by Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett.

Toxicological tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA), Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and revealed, the drug "salicylate detected in Urine."

The toxicological tests conducted at the Lucas County Coroner's Office, Toledo, Ohio revealed, "... no drugs or alcohol where found."

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The wreckage was examined at the accident site on March 20-21, 1994. The airplane impacted in southwest corner of an open field, approximately 2 miles east of runway 30. There were no ground scars observed. The nose of the airplane was heading 030 degrees.

The airframe was intact, the right wing, and the right side of the fuselage next to the co-pilot position displayed fire damage.

Control continuity was established to all flight controls.

All seats were attached to the seat rails except the pilot's seat. The seat and the track were intact, but the seat was off their track. The pilot's seat belt stitching failed at the left attach fitting on the floor. According to rescue personnel the pilot was not wearing his shoulder harness when they arrived to remove him from the airplane. The glare shield was pushed down and forward.

Only a slight amount of fuel was observed at the crash site. The left main fuel tank showed approximately one cup. The left auxiliary fuel tank had approximately 1 inch of fuel in the tank. Both the right main and right auxiliary fuel tanks were breached. The left and right fuel selectors were found selected for the main fuel tanks. Both fuel boost pumps were in the off position.

Both engines were torn down at the Defiance Airport, and no discrepancies were found.

Both propellers were intact, all the blades were attached to their respective hubs. The left propeller displayed one blade with a twist toward the direction of rotation, one blade bent aft approximately 40 degrees, and the third blade was not damaged. The right propeller displayed one blade twisted in the direction of rotation, and bent aft approximately 30 degrees. One blade was bent aft approximately 50 degrees, and the third blade was bent aft at the tip.

Personnel Information

Mr. Hogan was in possession of a private pilot's license at the time of the accident, and his personal flight records were not located. At the time of his last FAA, third class flight physical, on November 13, 1991, the pilot reported approximately 2,000 hours of total flight time.

According to FAA records Mr. Hogan did not have a flight medical since November, 1991. Information provided the NTSB by the Lucas County Medical Examiner, revealed that since Mr. Hogan's last medical he had several heart attacks, and by-pass surgery.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

It was assumed that N1576T had 112 gallons of fuel on board when the flight started at 1030. The accident occurred at 1355 for a total flight time of 3 hours and 35 minutes. Based on an approximate cruise altitude of 10,000 feet at a power setting of 72.5% (lean for this airplane), a fuel flow of 197 pound per hour was determined. This airplane according to Cessna has 100 gallons of usable fuel in the main tanks (tips) and 6 gallons each in the auxiliary tanks for a total of 672 pounds of fuel. Based on the following estimates;

Time Fuel used Fuel Remain Start-taxi-take off 0 30lbs 642lbs Cruise climb to 10000' 10.4 min 70lbs 572lbs Time to fuel exhaustion 2hr 54min 572lbs 0

It was estimated that the airplane would have ran out fuel at 3 hours 4.4 minutes.

The wreckage was released to the owner's representative and owner of the recovery company, Mr. Henry Dobbelaere, Charloe Aircraft, Oakwood, Ohio, on March 21, 1994.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate inflight decision and planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the total loss of engine power.