- Date
- May 21, 1989, 03:30 local (09:30 UTC)
- Place
- Houghton, MI
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8267ZPiper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890521014019A
- Case key
- 14355
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
Improper planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion from lack of fuel. Factors related to the accident were: obstructions (road sign & guard rail) in the emergency landing area.
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 collided with a sign and a guard rail as the plt was making an emergency landing on a road. He told officials that the engine lost power from fuel exhaustion after approximately 4.6 hours of flight. This conclusion was supported by the absence of fuel in the aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8267Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-816042
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Westwind Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 09G · Mason, MI
- Destination
- CMX · Houghton, MI
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 140 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 270° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CMX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.