- Date
- April 26, 1990, 19:30 local (Apr 27, 1990, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Granbury, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9488WPiper PA28-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900426011839A
- Case key
- 23125
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
Fuel starvation due to the pilot's disregard for the position of the fuel tank selector.
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 of the single engine airplane on a local area flight was returning to the airport at low altitude when engine power was lost. He attempted to switch fuel tanks and restart the engine, but collided with wires and impacted into a field. He stated that he ran a tank dry, thus starving the engine and was flying too low to glide to a suitable landing area.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9488W
- Reported as
- Piper PA28-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-11228
- Airframe hours
- 2,556
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B4B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John W. Smith
- Registered owner
- Smith, John Wayne
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 15, 1990 · 10 hours before
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 915 total · 450 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point -0 °F
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 N9488W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.