- Date
- August 27, 2009, 17:25 local (21:25 UTC)
- Place
- Holland, MA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N33078Piper J5A
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090827025409A
- Case key
- 74618
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
A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A factor in the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he began the day with an unknown quantity of fuel. Shortly after departing on his second flight of the day, the airplane suffered a complete loss of engine power. During the subsequent forced landing, the left main landing gear caught tall grass and ground-looped the airplane, which resulted in substantial damage to the left landing gear, left wing strut, and left lower fuselage. Post accident examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed no odor of fuel, no fuel spillage, and 5 ounces of fuel in the airplane. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he began the day with an unknown quantity of fuel. Shortly after departing on his second flight of the day, the airplane suffered a complete loss of engine power. During the subsequent forced landing, the left main landing gear caught tall grass and ground-looped the airplane, which resulted in substantial damage to the left landing gear, left wing strut, and left lower fuselage. Post accident examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed no odor of fuel, no fuel spillage, and 5 ounces of fuel in the airplane. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N33078
- Reported as
- Piper J5A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5-426
- Airframe hours
- 9,513
- Engine
- Cont Motor A&C75 SERIES, 75 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Horan Mark E
- Registered owner
- Mark E Horan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 19, 2009 · 56 hours before
- Departed
- 3B0 · Southbridge, MA
- Destination
- 7B6 · Warehouse Point, CT
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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 12, 2008
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 443 total · 400 in this make and model · 385 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- KPBL, 29 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 19, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 813 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.