- Date
- September 17, 1989, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Haymarket, VA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N40892Piper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890917035149A
- Case key
- 11529
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Improper use of the fuel selector, which resulted in fuel starvation & loss of engine power; and improper use of emergency procedures after loss of engine power. The presence of high obstructions (trees) in the approach path to the emergency landing area was a factor.
Analysis
After nearly 3 hrs of flt, the eng began running rough. The plt applied carb heat, turned on the electric fuel pump, and moved the mixture to rich, but the eng lost all power. The plt attempted to make an emergency landing in a pasture; however, before reaching the pasture, the acft contacted trees & crashed. An exam of the acft revealed the fuel selector was positioned to the left tank, which contained aprx 1 pint of fuel. The right tank was full of fuel. Drg a post-acdnt test run, the eng operated normally. The plt was a foreign national from mozambique.
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
- N40892
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7405074
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carolina Air Academy
- Registered owner
- Carolina Air Academy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 15, 1989
- Departed
- MWK · Mt Airy, NC
- Destination
- GAI · Gaithersburg, MD
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
- 19
- Certificates
- Private, Foreign
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 114 total · 12 in this make and model · 88 as pilot in command · 93 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IAD, 12 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.