- Date
- August 21, 1989, 11:33 local (15:33 UTC)
- Place
- Clendenin, WV
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7597WPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890821030799A
- Case key
- 11522
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 planning/preparation by the pilot which resulted in fuel exhaustion. The weather conditions, the pilot's delay in diverting to an alternate airport, and the light pole were contributing factors.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7597W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-1551
- Airframe hours
- 2,242
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carmen J. Ferrell, Jr.
- Registered owner
- Carmen J. Ferrell, Jr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 1989 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- W42 · Fallston, MD
- Destination
- I89 · Fayetteville, WV
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 774 total · 40 in this make and model · 640 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CRW, 13 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.