- Date
- August 9, 1994, 17:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Romeoville, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3634RPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940809020949A
- Case key
- 9632
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 inadequate preflight planning/preparation and improper emergency procedure. Factors associated with the accident are the pilot's improper positioning of the fuel tank selector, and the rough, uneven terrain.
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 pilot reported he was on a local pleasure flight when the engine lost power and he was forced to land in a field short of the runway. He said that prior to takeoff, he had inadvertently selected a nearly empty fuel tank, and that the engine lost power because of fuel starvation. He stated that he failed to check the fuel selector following the loss of engine power, and thus did not move the selector to the other, nearly full gas tank. The airplane susequently landed in a rough cornfield with a mature crop.
Factual narrative
On August 9, 1994, about 1720 central daylight time, a Piper PA- 28-140 airplane, N3634R, sustained substantial damage following a loss of engine power and subsequent off airport landing in a corn field near Romeoville, Illinois. The commercial pilot and sole passenger aboard reported no injuries. The local, 14 CFR Part 91 flight operated without flight plan in visual meteorological conditions.
The pilot reported the engine lost power while he was flying in the traffic pattern in preparation for landing. He said the engine lost power because he had inadvertently selected a nearly empty fuel tank prior to takeoff, and that he had exhausted all the usable fuel in the selected tank. The pilot said he did not switch to the other, nearly full fuel tank, and thus was forced to land in a corn field short of runway 09.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3634R
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7125140
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Revisky, Louis R.
- Registered owner
- Steve Ratkovich
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 8, 1994 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- LOT · IL
- Airport
- LOT · Lewis University, runway 9, 4,000 × 100 ft
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 900 total · 300 in this make and model · 900 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DPA, 22 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.