- Date
- May 18, 2024, 10:28 local (16:28 UTC)
- Place
- Dell City, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N11NTPiper PA-28-180
- Defining event
- Enroute: 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
- FAA report
- 20240518012559A
- Case key
- 194282
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 failure to switch fuel tanks while en route which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 3
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 on a cross country flight, the engine lost power. He turned on the fuel pump and attempted to restart the engine several times; however, the engine would not restart, so he landed the airplane in a field. During the rollout, the left tire impacted a barbed wire fence, the left landing gear separated from the airplane, and the left wing to drug along the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the bottom of the left wing. The pilot stated that he was switching fuel tanks every hour, but he became distracted when the airplane crossed a mountain range and he did not switch the fuel tanks. The engine lost power due to fuel starvation. The pilot reported there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11NT
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7205193
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 8,266.9
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 10, 2023
- Departed
- 7T7 · Midland, TX
- Destination
- KELP · El Paso, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 1, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,600 total · 101 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KELP, 60 nm away
- METAR
- KELP 181551Z 14005KT 10SM FEW110 28/M02 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP093 T02781022,M
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 30, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.8 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.
Other investigations on N11NT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.