CHI96FA316

The pilot said that he had flown the route several times before, and had planned the flight so that they would 'get back with 8/10th of an hour (of fuel) to spare.' While in cruise flight, at 3,000 feet mean sea level, the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot said that he switched tanks and started looking for a place to land. The passenger said that he saw something, perhaps a field, off of the right side of the airplane. The pilot turned the airplane toward the area. He could not make out anything. When the landing lights illuminated the trees, the pilot said he 'instinctively pulled back and tried to turn left. I hit the trees.' The airplane's elapsed time indicator read 2523.2 hours when the pilot signed out the airplane. It read 2529.9 when examined at the accident site. Examination of the wreckage showed no evidence of fuel in the fuel lines or the carburetor. Twenty ounces of fuel was recovered from the airplane's left wing tank. The pilot survived the accident and was found five days later by search and rescue personnel.

History of flight

On August 20, 1996, at 0130 eastern daylight time (edt), a Piper PA-28-180, N9209J, operated by a private pilot sustained substantial damage when during cruise flight the airplane's engine lost power. The airplane subsequently impacted the terrain in a wooded area near Hartford, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. There was no flight plan on file. The pilot sustained serious injuries. The passenger was fatally injured. The airplane had been reported missing for five days before being found on August 24, 1996. The flight originated at Mackinac Island, Michigan at 2230 edt, and was en route to Rochester, Indiana.

On the day the flight originated, August 19, 1996, a witness, the manager of the Fulton County Airport, Rochester, Indiana, reported seeing the pilot and passenger arrive at the airport at approximately 1400 eastern standard time (est). The witness described their manner as "hurried." A short time after they arrived, the witness observed the pilot and passenger taxi the airplane north from the Mentone Flying Club hanger area onto the ramp and head toward the gasoline pumps. "I saw the airplane pause, which indicated to me that it was to be fueled. I got up from my desk to go to the pumps to fuel the airplane, but when I went outside I noticed the airplane taxied past the pumps and proceeded east on another taxiway toward the departure end of runway 29. A short time later, it [the airplane] departed on runway 29."

Another witness on the Fulton County Airport also observed the airplane taxi and stop in front of the pumps. "He [the pilot of the airplane] was close to the pumps but not close enough for the nozzle to reach the left wing. The aircraft proceeded to do a run-up, then taxied on."

A witness at Mason County Aviation, Incorporated, Ludington, Michigan, who spoke to the pilot after he landed at Ludington, Michigan, said that the pilot "was in a big hurry." The pilot "got 40.8 gallons of fuel, 100 low lead, and bought a Michigan State Aeronautical Chart." The pilot told the witness that he was going to Mackinac Island. The pilot checked the weather by observing the fixed base operator's weather repeater. The airplane took off from Ludington, Michigan, at approximately 1745 edt.

The pilot was interviewed by telephone on September 10, 1996, at 0930 edt. The pilot said that he and his friend [the passenger] had flown this route several times before and that he was pretty familiar with where he was going. He confirmed that he took off from Rochester, Indiana, refueled at Ludington, Michigan, and landed at Mackinac Island, Michigan. He said that he had planned the entire flight so that they would "get back to Rochester, Indiana, with 8/10th of an hour to spare." The pilot said that the airplane landed at Mackinac Island, Michigan, at 1830 edt. The pilot estimated that the trip from Ludington, Michigan, took 1 hour and 10 minutes. After having dinner and touring the island, the pilot and passenger departed Mackinac Island in the airplane at 2230 edt. The pilot did not refuel the airplane while at Mackinac Island. "The airport was closed. They don't provide any services up there anyway. It was pretty much a straight shot back, going VOR to VOR." On the flight back to Rochester, Indiana, and approaching the Hartford, Michigan, area, the pilot said that his VOR was malfunctioning. "They would point all over the place." The pilot was at 3,000 feet mean sea level (MSL), and certain that he was heading toward the Keeler VOR when his engine lost power.

He said that he switched from the left fuel tank to the right fuel tank, "since the left one was the empty tank." The pilot started looking for a place to land. He lowered the nose of the airplane 20 degrees and established a 70 mile per hour glide.

The passenger said that he saw something, perhaps a field, off of the right side of the airplane. The pilot turned the airplane toward the area the passenger pointed out. He could not make out anything. Then the landing lights illuminated the trees. The pilot "instinctively pulled back and tried to turn left. I hit the trees."

Personnel information

The pilot had 141.5 total flying hours in single-engine land airplanes, 53.4 hours of VFR night time, and 15.7 hours in the PA-28-180 airplane.

The pilot had a biennial flight review in a Cessna 172 airplane on July 25, 1996.

Aircraft information

The airplane was owned and operated by Mentone Flying Club, Incorporated, Rochester, Indiana. It was used for flight primarily as a rental airplane for club members. The airplane had an annual inspection performed on April 16, 1996.

According to the owner's records, the airplane, prior to the day of the accident, was last refueled on August 10, 1996. Eleven gallons of fuel were pumped into the airplane's fuel tanks, filling the tanks to the full indication [50 gallons]. The elapsed time indicator on the airplane read 2520.3 hours at that time.

The airplane logged 2.5 hours on August 12, 1996 and 0.4 hours on August 16, 1996. The elapsed time indicator following the August 16, 1996 flight read 2523.2 hours. This was the total time when the pilot signed out the airplane at Rochester, Indiana, on August 19, 1996.

No elapsed time indicator reading was recorded when the airplane was refueled at Mason County Airport, Ludington, Michigan.

The elapsed time indicator read 2529.9 when examined at the accident site on August 25, 1996.

Wreckage and impact information

The NTSB on-site investigation began August 25, 1996 at 0900 eastern daylight time.

The accident site was located on the edge of an apple orchard, 100 feet into a densely wooded area approximately one-half mile west of Van Buren County Road 681, a north-south running paved road.

The main wreckage consisted of the fuselage, empennage, right wing and right main landing gear, engine, forward landing gear and propeller. The main wreckage was oriented on a 260-degree magnetic heading. The wreckage was resting on it's left side at a 75-degree bank angle. The left wing was located in the top of a 40 foot high oak tree, approximately 90 feet of the main wreckage on a 075-degree magnetic heading. Several small pieces of wreckage were found west and south of the main wreckage.

The fuselage was predominantly intact. The underside of the fuselage showed scrapes and dents from the cowling to the empennage. There was skin wrinkling along the entire right side of the fuselage near the bottom. The left side of the fuselage was bent inward approximately five inches. The left side of the fuselage forward of the cabin area displayed inward crushing along the longitudinal axis. The left fuselage forward of the windscreen was crushed inward approximately 37 degrees. The forward windscreen was broken out. The crew cabin was intact and bent to the right. The instrument panel was intact and bent slightly downward. The cowling was broken along the forward longitudinal rivet line. The bottom portion off the cowling was broken and separated. The top portion of the cowling was bent upward 10 degrees and to the left. The top forward edge of the cowling displayed a six-inch long cut, running 10 degrees in from the front from left to right.

The right wing was bent forward at the wing root approximately 33 degrees. The aft one-half of the inboard wing section from the trailing edge to the center main spar was separated from the fuselage at the wing root. The right flap was bent up 10 degrees at mid-span. A large bend and metal tear was observed forward of the main spar at the top of the forward leading edge of the right wing root. Tree branches and leaves were observed in the broken area. The right fuel tank was intact. There was no evidence of fuel in the right fuel tank. The right m