- Date
- November 28, 2020, 13:37 local (18:37 UTC)
- Place
- French Lick, IN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5242WPiper PA28
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Fuel starvation
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20201128014839A
- Case key
- 102349
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 pilot’s improper in-flight decision making which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported he’d departed from his home airport on a personal flight with 8 to 9 gallons of fuel in the left tank and 6 to 7 gallons of fuel in the right tank. He planned to use the left fuel tank for most of the flight, then switch to the right tank upon returning to the airport for touch-and-go-landings. The pilot reported that he did not switch to the right tank and during the third touch-and-go landing the engine lost all power. The pilot applied carburetor heat but did not remember to switch fuel tanks. The pilot made a forced landing into a wooded area near the airport and impacted trees and terrain, during which the right wing separated from the fuselage. The left wing, aft fuselage, and empennage sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
The pilot departed from his home airport on a personal flight with 8 to 9 gallons of fuel in the left tank and 6 to 7 gallons of fuel in the right tank. He planned to use the left fuel tank for most of the flight, then switch to the right tank upon returning to the airport for touch-and-go-landings. The pilot stated that he did not switch to the right tank and during the third touch-and-go and the engine experienced a total loss of power. He added that he applied carburetor heat but did not remember to switch fuel tanks. The pilot made a forced landing into a wooded area near the airport. The accident is consistent with a total loss of power due to fuel starvation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5242W
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (160)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-283
- Built
- 1962
- Airframe hours
- 4,345.7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 31, 2020
- Departed
- FRH · French Lick, IN
- Airport
- FRH · French Lick Municipal Airport, runway 08, 5,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Stall warning system
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
- 70
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 291 total · 177 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- KHNB, 21 nm away
- METAR
- KHNB 281956Z AUTO 25003KT 10SM CLR 09/M03 A3021 RMK AO2 SLP233 T00941028
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 17, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.