N377B

On April 19, 1998, about 1730 eastern daylight time, a Beechcraft C-50, N377B, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Ford, Virginia. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Fernandina Beach, Florida, about 1330, destined for Clinton, Maryland. No flight plan had been flied for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In a telephone interview, the pilot stated he had recently purchased the airplane in Sarasota, Florida. During a flight from Venice, Florida, to Sebastian, Florida, all of the airplane's navigational and communications equipment failed. While in Sebastian, the pilot purchased a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to navigate to his home airport in Clinton, Maryland. While en route from Sebastain to Maryland, the airplane's left engine lost power. The pilot switched fuel tanks, restarted the engine, and landed. After refueling at the Fernandina Beach Airport, the pilot again departed for Maryland. While en route the pilot decided to land at the Mecklenburg Regional Airport (AVC), South Hill, Virginia, to refuel. He selected the Lawrenceville VOR on his GPS receiver, and thought that he would fly over AVC en route to the Lawrenceville VOR. After reaching the Lawrenceville VOR the pilot elected to search the area looking for AVC. After searching for 35-40 minutes, the pilot's handheld held GPS receiver stopped working due to low battery power. The pilot then decided to fly towards Richmond, Virginia. The pilot was flying towards Richmond at 2,500 feet AGL, when both engines simultaneously lost power. The pilot said he did not have enough time to attempt to restart the engines, and performed an emergency landing to a field.

The airplane was found in a ditch, with the empennage of the airplane suspended at a 45 degree angle. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector revealed 30 minutes to 1 hour of fuel remained in the airplane. A 10 to 15 foot long power cable was wrapped around the propeller hub of the left engine. According to the FAA Inspector, propeller ground strikes indicated at least one engine was operating at the time of the accident and the airplane was removed from the accident site by the pilot before it could be examined further.

The pilot stated, except for the failure of the airplane's navigational and communications equipment, he experienced no problems with the airplane.

According to the airplane's information manual, the total fuel capacity of the airplane and the amount of usable fuel were both 180 gallons. The pilot purchased the airplane on April 1, 1998. The airplane had accumulated about 16 hours since its last annual inspection, which was performed on April 17, 1997.

The pilot reported over 3,600 hours of total flight experience, of which about 25 hours were multi-engine aircraft and 10 hours were in make and model.