Incident Overview
A flight from Hilton Head, South Carolina to Woodstown, New Jersey encountered headwinds, prompting the pilot to divert to Salisbury, Maryland, a less distant airport. The aircraft arrived in the Salisbury area at 1944 hours, where the pilot received weather information indicating a low ceiling and reduced visibility.
Sequence of Events
At 1955, air traffic control instructed the pilot to hold upon reaching a clearance limit and advised that further clearance would be available at 2030. The pilot experienced difficulty establishing the aircraft on the VOR runway 5 approach and subsequently received vectors to final approach.
Emergency Declaration and Landing
At 2046:53, approximately two minutes after becoming established on the approach, the pilot reported that the aircraft had run out of fuel and declared an emergency. During the ensuing emergency landing, the aircraft crashed on wooded terrain about 5 miles southwest of the airport. The aircraft had been airborne for approximately 4.3 hours at the time of the accident.