- Date
- March 26, 1991, 20:36 local (Mar 27, 1991, 01:36 UTC)
- Place
- Martinsburg, WV
- Injuries
- 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8738EPiper PA-28-151
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910326063209A
- Case key
- 11665
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
Fuel exhaustion which resulted in the loss of engine power.
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 airplane was purchased at northampton and it was being ferried to the new home base at pine bluff, AR. The passengers held private pilot certificates. The accident occurred about 4 hours after takeoff, based on the hobbsmeter and tachometer times. The pilot stated that as he neared Martinsburg, an intermediate stop, the fuel pressure gage began fluctuating. He turned on the electric fuel boost pump, but he does not recall details of the flight afterwards. One of the passengers was seated in the left front seat, and indicated that he flew the airplane most of the flight. He reported that they stopped earlier while en route at another airport, but there were no services there, so the flight was resumed. He said that mrb was in sight when the fuel pressure dropped to zero and the engine began to lose power. He said the pilot took control of the flight. Attempts to restore power were unsuccessful. The investigation revealed the fuel tanks were empty and no evidence of a fuel spill was noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8738E
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-151
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28 7615156
- Airframe hours
- 2,035
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E3D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- Martin Aircraft
- Registered owner
- Martin Aircraft
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 8, 1990 · 94 hours before
- Departed
- 7B2 · Northampton, MA
- Destination
- MRB · Martinsburg, 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
- 23
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 847 total · 18 in this make and model · 763 as pilot in command · 190 in the last 90 days · 64 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MRB, 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.