- Date
- July 28, 1989, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- True, WV
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7162PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890728025599A
- Case key
- 11467
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
The pilots failure to properly monitor the fuel supply which resulted in fuel starvation. The aircraft stalled as the pilot performed an evasive maneuver to avoid the mountain top.
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 VFR rated plt requested an IFR clearance to get on top of wx then continued the flt VFR. En route, two different facilities heard the plt make transmissions. One facility reported the plt transmitted he was inbound for a landing to refuel. Witnesses reported that the acft was flying at a very low alt and the engine was cutting on and off. They reported that the engine came on again and the acft entered a steep climb to clear a mountain top. The acft impacted the ground in a steep nose down attitude after clearing the top of the mountain. The impact heading was reverse the direction of flt. Records indicate the acft was topped off with fuel prior to departure. The acft has 2 30-gallon main tanks and 2 15-gallon aux tanks. The flt was aprx 2 hours long prior to the accident and the acft burn aprx 14 gph at 75 percent cruise power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7162P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-2328
- Airframe hours
- 4,039
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1D5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wilbur G. Hinton
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 26, 1989
- Departed
- FNT · Flint, MI
- Destination
- SN4 · Lincolnton, NC
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
- 58
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 670 total · 244 in this make and model · 582 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,200 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BKW, 18 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 N7162P · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.