- Date
- December 24, 1989, 15:55 local (20:55 UTC)
- Place
- Danielsville, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5556PPiper PA-24
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891224055629A
- Case key
- 8193
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
Inadequate preflight preparation/planning by the pilot, by not assuring an adequate supply of fuel, which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Related factors were: a false fuel quantity indication, trees in the emergency landing area, and failure of the landing gear to extend (for an unknown reason).
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
The plt stated that drg flt, he noted a slight odor of fuel & opened the vents to allow fresh air in the cabin. As he was arriving to land at the destn arpt, the eng lost power at about 2200' AGL. He selected an emerg landing area. After assuring clnc over trees, he tried to extd the lndg gear with the normal (elec) extn sys, but was unable. He started to use the emerg gear extn sys, but there was insufficient time, so he made a wheels up lndg. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the acft or eng was found. According to the plt, his instruments showed fuel was still remaining when the eng lost power; however, no usable fuel was found in the acft after the acdnt. The plt stated that the acft was 'topped off' with fuel before the flt & he estimated 11.7 gal of fuel or more would be remaining when he arrived at the destn. The acft's fuel capacity was 60 gal with the tanks filled to the top of the filler necks. Rprtdly, the fuel sys would have had about 10 gal less than a full load, if the tanks had been filled to the bottom of the filler necks.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5556P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24620
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Morris J. Hansen
- Registered owner
- Morris James Hanson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 4, 1989 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- Coldwater, MI
- Destination
- Athens, GA
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 671 total · 19 in this make and model · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.