- Date
- March 2, 1994, 14:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Lindsborg, KS
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3592RPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940302003449A
- Case key
- 9475
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
was the pilot-in-command's failure to refuel the airplane during the flight. Factors were fuel exhaustion, the sign, and the pilot-in-command's lack of total experience in type of airplane.
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 was in cruise flight when the engine lost power. The pilot switched fuel tanks several times in an attempt to regain power. He was unable to sustain engine power and resorted to a forced landing on a road, where the wing struck a sign. Subsequent investigation revealed only unusable fuel remaining in the tanks. The pilot stated that he thought that he had five hours of fuel on board the airplane for the intended flight, but after 4.4 hours on the hobbs meter the engine began to lose power from fuel exhaustion.
Factual narrative
On March 2, 1994, at 1445 central standard time, a Piper PA-28- 180, N3592R, registered to Sky-Breeze Aviation, Inc., of Lubbock, Texas, and operated by a private pilot, experienced a loss of engine power, followed by a forced landing on a road in LIndsborg, Kansas. The airplane sustained substantial damage on landing. The pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. A VFR flight plan was on file for the flight from Lubbock, Texas departing about 1045 with the intended destination of Salina, Kansas.
The pilot indicated that he expected the to have five hours of fuel on board the airplane. He stated that after 4.4 hours on the hobbs meter the engine lost power and he conducted a forced landing on a highway where the wing of the airplane struck a road marker. Post accident inspection revealed only unusable fuel remaining in the fuel tanks.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3592R
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-5705
- Airframe hours
- 6,840
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sky-Breeze Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 7, 1993 · 180 hours before
- Departed
- F82 · Lubbock, TX
- Destination
- SLN · Salina, KS
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 166 total · 5 in this make and model · 92 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SLN, 12 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.
Other investigations on N3592R · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.