- Date
- September 29, 2021, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Hancock, MN
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N130GHPiper PA-32-260
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- 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
- FAA report
- 20210929016839A
- Case key
- 104002
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
A total loss of engine power as a result of fuel starvation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to properly manage the fuel on board the airplane and his failure to perform an adequate preflight inspection.
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 that before he departed for a cross country flight, he asked the fuel servicing personnel to fill the left fuel tank. While enroute and burning fuel only from the left tank, the airplane lost all engine power and the pilot executed a forced landing into a field, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. During a post-accident inspection, the left fuel tank was found to be empty. The pilot stated that he assumed all of his fuel tanks were full at the time of departure but did not confirm the fuel level by looking in the tanks or at the fuel gauges. He also stated that his failure to verify the fuel quantity resulted in a fuel exhaustion event when the 6.6 gallons of fuel in the left main tank were consumed. He did not use fuel from the right tank during the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N130GH
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-124
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 4,530
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Brad Influence Llp
- Registered owner
- Brad Influence Llp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 2, 2020 · 100 hours before
- Departed
- Y63 · Elbow Lake, MN
- Destination
- KBBB · Benson, MN
- Airport
- None
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, 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
- 57
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 25, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 586.6 total · 217 in this make and model · 528.2 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- KMOX, 8 nm away
- METAR
- KMOX 291615Z AUTO 16008KT 10SM CLR 24/13 A2992 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 4, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.