Tampa-Intl

The pilot departed on the non-scheduled passenger flight with one passenger onboard; the flight was the 3rd leg of a 4-leg trip. About 13 minutes after departure, he advised air traffic control that the airplane was “fuel critical” and requested vectors to the nearest airport, which was about 7 miles away. Both engines subsequently lost total power and the pilot performed a forced landing on a street about 2 miles from the airport, during which the airplane collided with two vehicles. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the fuel tanks, with evidence of a small fire near the left wingtip fuel tank. Fuel consumption calculations revealed that the airplane would have used about 100 gallons of fuel since its most recent refueling, which was the capacity of the main (wingtip) tanks. Both fuel selectors were found in their respective main tank positions. Given the available information, it is likely that the pilot exhausted all the fuel in the main fuel tanks and starved the engines of fuel. Although the total amount of fuel on board at the start of the flight could not be determined, had all tanks been full, the airplane would have had about 63 gallons remaining in the two auxiliary tanks at the time of the accident. The auxiliary fuel tanks were breached during the accident and quantity of fuel they contained was not determined. Examination of the engines revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

The flight had departed runway 32, under IFR, from a local reliever airport 35 miles south of the destination, and was cleared to intercept the ILS approach for runway 36R. Instrument meteorological conditions existed with a low scattered cloud layer beneath the 900 foot broken clouds. Visibility was 8 miles. The flight never stabilized on the inbound course and glide slope. After acquiring the runway visually, about 3 miles from the airport, the airplane dove for the runway, subsequently touching down with the landing gear retracted. The left propeller incurred greater damage than the right propeller. The airplane began to go around, pitched up, then entered a steep left, descending turn that continued until impact with the ground.

Shortly after takeoff from Tampa Airport, while climbing, the pilot informed ATC about the failure of the left engine and elected to return. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when the airplane slid on the ground and crashed into a building located near the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

The landing was completed on a very wet runway. After touchdown, the twin engine aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest partially submerged into the bay located past the runway end. All 14 occupants were quickly evacuated while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The airplane suffered an accident while taking off from Tampa-Drew Field, ground looped and crashed. There were no casualties among the crew.
Crew:
Thomas G. Lyman.