- Date
- July 5, 1993, 19:30 local (Jul 6, 1993, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Bloom, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8633WPiper PA-28-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930705022319A
- Case key
- 9229
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 refueling by a person or persons unknown. A factor was deteriorated fuel.
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
During cruise flight the airplane sustained a total loss of engine power. A forced landing was performed and substantial damage to the airplane occurred on touchdown. A post accident examination of the airplane revealed deteriorated fuel in tanks. Source of the fuel was undetermined.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 1993, at 1930 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-235, N8633W, registered to Charles W. Legan of Ulysses, Kansas, and operated by a private rated pilot, experienced a loss of engine power and conducted a forced landing in a field near Bloom, Kansas. The airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with the terrain. The pilot reported no injuries. The personal flight was being conducted under provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed Liberal, Kansas, at 1830, with the intended destination of Ulysses, Kansas.
The pilot indicated in his written statement that he felt that the mixture control arm contributed to the accident.
A post accident examination revealed that the nose landing gear had collapsed during impact with the terrain and had damaged the mixture cable. A written statement by a mechanic who examined the airplane is attached to this report. The mechanic found no mechanical anomalies; however, he stated that the fuel in the tanks appeared to be a mix of av-gas and automotive fuel. He described the fuel as being free of contamination; however, "had a cloudy, milky white appearance."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8633W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-10148
- Airframe hours
- 3,889
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B4B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Legan, Charles W.
- Registered owner
- Legan, Charles W.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special); Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 1993 · 76 hours before
- Departed
- LBL · Liberal, KS
- Destination
- ULS · Ulysses, KS
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,360 total · 63 in this make and model · 1,300 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DDC, 65 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.