- Date
- October 25, 1992, 19:20 local (Oct 26, 1992, 01:20 UTC)
- Place
- Hillsboro, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7629YPiper PA-30
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921025046339A
- Case key
- 18606
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 exhaustion engine power loss due to the pilot's failure to refuel. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain available for the forced landing.
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
A private pilot on a 536 nautical miles cross country flight flew for four hours and twelve minutes before running out of fuel on the return leg of his flight. He had taken off with 84 gallons of fuel on board and did not refuel at his overnight stop. The pilot attempted a forced landing next to an interstate highway. During the landing roll, both main landing gears collapsed and the left wing impacted a utility pole.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7629Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-705
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-B1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sun Belt Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Sun Belt Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 5, 1992 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- HOT · Hot Springs, AR
- Destination
- F60 · Mcgregor, TX
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
- 29
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 232 total · 45 in this make and model · 158 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 110° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ACT, 34 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.