What happened
During a nighttime approach to the Claxton-Evans County (Clayton) Airport, an aircraft suffered a simultaneous loss of power in both engines. The failure was triggered by the depletion of available fuel during the flight. As the aircraft lost altitude, the pilot attempted to execute an emergency landing; however, the plane impacted a group of trees before reaching the ground.
The accident resulted in two serious injuries among the occupants. The impact occurred while the aircraft was in the final approach phase of its flight.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the primary reason for the crash was inadequate preflight preparation, which led to the loss of power in both engines. Several contributing elements were identified during the analysis of the event:
- Total exhaustion of fuel reserves
- Improper management of fuel levels
- Dual engine flameout
- An unplanned forced landing on terrain away from the runway