CHI96FA309

The flight itinerary consisted of a 4.5-hour round-robin flight from Schaumburg, Illinois, to Eagle River, Wisconsin and return. The airplane departed Schaumburg with approximately 84 gallons of fuel, and was not refueled prior to the return flight. The pilot said he had 24 gallons in the main tanks and 4 gallons in each tip tank prior to departing Eagle River. On takeoff, the cabin door was unsecured and a return landing to the Eagle River Airport was executed. On the return flight to Schaumburg, the engine lost power several times. The pilot was able to temporarily restore power by switching between fuel tanks. The pilot decided to land in a street because he could not find a local airport. The airplane contacted parked vehicles and a residence during the landing. Both the pilot and front passenger were not wearing shoulder harnesses. The weather was observed as light to moderate rain with lighting and thunderstorms in the vicinity. Forty six ounces of fuel were drained from the left wing. The engine ran successfully at all power applications with no discrepancies noticed.

History of flight

On August 18, 1996, at 2109 central daylight time (cdt), a Piper PA-32-300, N823PJ, operated by Northwest Flyers, Inc., of Schaumburg, Illinois, was destroyed when the airplane struck a residential garage in Crystal Lake, Illinois, during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The commercial pilot and four passengers reported serious injuries while one passenger reported only minor injuries. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight originated from Eagle River Union Airport, Eagle River, Wisconsin, at approximately 1900 cdt with an intended destination of Schaumburg, Illinois.

The flight itinerary consisted of a nonstop flight departing Schaumburg Airport, Schaumburg, Illinois on August 17, 1996 with a destination of Eagle River Union Airport, Eagle River, Wisconsin. The pilot and passengers spent the night and were returning to Schaumburg Airport when the accident occurred. The total round robin flight time was 4.5 hours. The airplane's fuel capacity is 84 gallons. It departed Schaumburg Airport with approximately 84 gallons of fuel on board and was not refueled prior to the return flight, with three takeoffs and two landings before the accident.

According to the front right seat passenger's interview statement, they departed Schaumburg Airport in a rental airplane at approximately 2015 cdt. The passenger stated that after takeoff with full fuel tanks, the pilot said, "...that's funny, I didn't see any fuel used." They arrived at Eagle River Airport at approximately between 2200 and 2215 cdt. The next day at approximately 1820 cdt they arrived at the airport for the return trip home. The pilot did his preflight checks. The passenger asked about the amount of fuel in the airplane, and the pilot responded that they had used primarily the wing tip tanks [17 gallons each] on the trip from Schaumburg to Eagle River. The front right seat passenger said that the pilot stated that they used a portion of their main tanks [25 gallons each] during take off and landing. They departed Eagle River Airport at 1845 cdt. After takeoff, they noticed the right door was not closed and returned to Eagle River Airport. They secured the door and took off again at approximately 1900 cdt. As they passed just west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the engine began to sputter and lost power. The right main fuel tank was selected and indicated approximately ten to twelve gallons of fuel. The pilot activated the fuel pump and selected the left main fuel tank which indicated ten to twelve gallons of fuel. Engine power was restored. The front right seat passenger said that the pilot stated that he just assumed that the gauge was bad. The passenger noted the loran on the dashboard, which indicated they were near the Illinois/Wisconsin border, and approximately eighteen minutes from Schaumburg Airport when the engine began sputtering again. The pilot switched to one of the tip tanks with approximately three to four gallons of fuel in it. Engine power was restored again. Approximately ten minutes later, the engine lost power again and this time the pilot was unsuccessful at restoring engine power by switching between all available fuel tanks. The pilot went back to both main tanks which still indicated fuel yet the engine was still sputtering. At this point the airplane encountered rain. The pilot determined that Lake-in-Hills Airport was the closest. The pilot began looking for a place to land. As they were coming in, the front right seat passenger recalled that the pilot noted a street and thought he could land on it. The passenger remembers the pilot banking the airplane hard to the left and since there was no power for the airplane, he [passenger] felt that the pilot "over shot" the street. The pilot banked the airplane hard to the right to avoid the house. The passenger remembers looking out his window on the right side and noting the right wing struck something.

According to the pilot's written statement, he departed Eagle River at approximately 1900 cdt. The main tank fuel gauges indicated approximately 24 gallons each with the wing tip tanks reading 4 gallons each. The airplane returned to the airport because of an unlatched right passenger door. After a second takeoff, the pilot selected a cruise altitude of 3,500 feet mean sea level (msl) with the fuel flow of approximately 14 to 15 gallons an hour. Approximately one hour into the flight with the main fuel tank A selected, the engine began to lose power. The pilot switched to the main fuel tank B and pushed the mixture up a little. The pilot said that main fuel tank A gauge indicated twelve gallons of fuel. At approximately one hour and forty five minutes into the flight the engine began to sputter on main fuel tank B. This fuel gauge also indicated twelve gallons of fuel remaining. The pilot switched to the wing tip fuel tanks which indicated 2.5 gallons of fuel remaining in each. The pilot said "Then the fuel ran out on that tank so I switched it to the other aux tank [wing tip tank] which had another 2.5 gallons. I knew we had to land. I could not find Lake-in-Hills Airport so I landed in a neighborhood."

The impact into the house was heard by the residents of the neighborhood, who then reported it to the Crystal Lake Police Department at approximately 2109 cdt. The Police Department were on-scene at approximately 2111 cdt.

Other damage

Four vehicles and the residence's garage sustained extensive damage with no injuries to the occupants of the residence.

Personnel information

The pilot was the holder of a commercial certificate for single/multi engine land airplane with an instrument rating. The pilot also held a single engine land instructor's rating. He also held a second class medical issued on November 1, 1995. A review of the pilot's last logbook revealed his most recent biennial flight review was on May 16, 1995. The pilot's last entry in his logbook was March 29, 1995. To date, the pilot has not produced his flight time from March 29, 1995 to present. He had accumulated a total of 494 hours of flight time, as of March 29, 1995, 3 hours of which were in a PA-32-300 airplane.

Aircraft information

The airplane was a Piper PA-32-300, serial number 32-40583, N823PJ. The airplane had accumulated 4,299 hours time in service at the time of the accident. The engine had 629 hours total with 349 hours since its last overhaul. The most recent inspection was conducted on June 27, 1996, 78 hours prior to the accident.

Meteorological information

One minute before the accident at the DuPage Airport that is located approximately 170 degrees at twenty five miles from the accident site, a special DuPage Airport Tower observation was reporting weather conditions, as thunderstorms with light rain. In their remark section, they observed thunderstorms northwest of the airport which were moving northeast with lightning. The IIC, who was eight miles south east of the accident site, at 2100 cdt, observed heavy thunderstorm rain showers with lightning. Enclosed with this report are two satellite images showing an intense line of thunderstorms over northern Illinois.

Wreckage and impact information

The NTSB on-scene investigation began at 2230 on August 18, 1996. The wreckage was located in a residence's garage at 596 Ryan Way, Crystal Lake, Illinois. The wreckage was discovered in a near inverted attitude on a heading of 300 degrees. Examination of the accident site revealed one ground scar, approximately sixteen inches long and one inch deep located 62 feet from the main wreckage. A piece of the right wing position light cover was recovered from this scar, accompanied by pieces of broken green plexiglass. One foot forward of the first ground scar were two additional parallel ground scars twelve inches long and one inch deep. The