- Date
- February 21, 1989, 00:24 local (05:24 UTC)
- Place
- Tipp City, OH
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1139XPiper PA-28R-200
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890221002329A
- Case key
- 7878
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Improper planning by the pilot resulting in fuel exhaustion. The pilots lack of equipment and ability to handle the weather situation was ignored by the pilot in his planning for the flight.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
PIC had not flown for 10 yrs. Bought acft & flew on family vacation for two days & headed home. At refuel stop checked wx & noted low ceilings at destination. PIC flew to destination terminal area, obtained wx from ATC & requested VOR approach. Acft not equipped for approach. Acft also not IFR certified & nav instruments were not checked for correct operation. PIC flew in IMC about two hours, executing seven unsuccessful approaches; VOR, LOC, and ILS. Fuel was eventually exhausted & acft crashed about 1 mile from the runway threshold.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1139X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7535251
- Airframe hours
- 2,398
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Theodore H. Wood, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 3, 1988 · 27 hours before
- Departed
- 2G9 · Somerset, PA
- Destination
- I67 · Harrison, OH
- Airport
- DAY · Cox-Dayton International, runway 24, 9,500 × 150 ft, dirt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,250 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 170° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAY, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1139X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.