20010522013699A

(19)On may 22, 2001, at 0806 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31-310, N35 wt, was substantially damaged during a forced landing to a field near Uniontown, Ohio, while on final approach to runway 23 at akron-canton regional airport (cak), akron, Ohio. The certificated commercial pilot sustained serious injuries. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the flight that originated at port columbus international airport, columbus, Ohio, at 0727. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR part 135. An investigating officer from the stark county sheriff's office interviewed the pilot shortly after the accident. According to the officer's report: "the pilot stated he was cleared to land at akron-canton airport and he was on final approach. The pilot stated the engines began to sputter. The pilot stated he checked his fuel gauges which indicated low fuel, but not empty. The pilot stated he attempted to switch fuel tanks, but the engines stopped. The pilot stated he then looked for a clear area to land, and he landed the aircraft in a crop field. " according to the federal aviation administration's (FAA) preliminary accident notification, the cak air traffic control tower (ATCT) reported the following: "at 0804, [N35WT] was issued a low altitude alert and approach clearance was cancelled. Pilot then reported engine trouble and wanted to continue. The pilot then called low fuel, the tower observed aircraft go below tree line at 0806." . Examination of the wing fuel tanks revealed that the left inboard tank was empty, the left wing outboard fuel tank had about 3/4-inch of residual fuel at the bottom of the tank, the right inboard tank was empty, and the right outboard tank was empty. The left and right fuel selector valves were positioned to the inboard fuel tanks. The left fuel gauge read approximately 1/16 from empty with electrical power off, and the right fuel gauge read approximately 1/2 with electrical power off. The operator's chief of maintenance (com) had the airplane lifted onto its landing gear on may 24, 2001. According to the com, no fuel tank sump drains were open, and there was no breeching of the fuel tanks. According to the operator, the airplane departed cak with full fuel. The airplane flew to columbus, Ohio, then madison, Wisconsin. In madison, the aircraft was filled with 61 gallons of 100 ll ll fuel at a hobbs meter time of 3933.7. The aircraft departed Wisconsin and flew to chicago, Illinois. From chicago, the airplane flew to columbus, then back to cak. Examination of the operator's computerized dispatch sheet revealed that the trip began at cak at a hobbs meter time of 3930.9. The dispatch sheet indicted the trip would take 5.7 hours. At the accident site, the hobbs meter read 3936.8 hours. Examination of the airplane's pilot operating manual revealed that there were two bladder cells in each wing. The outboard cells held 40 gallons each and the inboard cells held 56 gallons each, for a total of 192 gallons, of which 182 gallons were usable. According to the operator, the airplane would burn an average 40 gallons per hour. The operator also stated that there was no way to visually check the amount of fuel in the tanks. The normal procedure to check the amount of fuel in the tanks was by referencing the fuel gauges in the cockpit. The pilot's most recent FAA second class medical was issued on September 12, 2000. At that time he reported a total of 1,500 flight hours. (-23) the aircraft crashed 4.5 miles northeast of akron/canton airport (cak) on a vectored approach for ILS runway 23. The pilot reported engine trouble and then called low fuel before being observed by the tower going below the tree line. The aircraft landed gear up in a muddy corn field approximately 200 feet after clearing a 75 foot tall tree line along the north edge of the field. The aircraft bounced once, then slid to a stop 150 foot from the edge of a wooded area along the south edge of the field. The pilot was the only person on board the aircraft, and received serious injury.