- Date
- November 2, 2022, 17:07, time zone not recorded
- Place
- Tanner, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8667WPiper PA-28
- Defining event
- Approach: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20221102016599A
- Case key
- 106269
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 inflight fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Findings · 2
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 reported that during the cross-country flight he noticed his fuel consumption was higher than he had expected. After entering the traffic pattern at the destination airport, and while turning from base to final, the engine “sputtered.” He switched from the right to the left fuel tank and attempted to restart the engine, however, engine power was not restored. The pilot conducted a forced landing in a field and touched down hard short of the runway threshold, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the airplane after the accident was unable to verify the presence of fuel in either the right or left fuel tanks. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he needed to, “Establish a not to exceed minimum fuel level for continued flight.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8667W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28 (235)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-10193
- Built
- 1963
- Airframe hours
- 5,856.6
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B4B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 24, 2022 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- MLJ · Milledgeville, GA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- DCU · Pryor Field Regional
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 15, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 158 total · 61 in this make and model · 76 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- DCU, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KDCU 022153Z AUTO 21003KT 10SM CLR 23/08 A3021 RMK AO2 SLP227 T02330083=
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 23, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.6 MB 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.
Other investigations on N8667W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.