- Date
- January 19, 1996, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Falfurrias, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N598ZPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960119047239A
- Case key
- 19751
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 improper positioning of the fuel selector. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain 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
The student pilot departed Brownsville, Texas for a solo cross-country flight that took him to Corpus Christi, Texas for 'touch and go's', and then to Rockport, Texas for a full-stop landing. The aircraft was refueled in Rockport and the flight continued to Alice, Texas for a full-stop landing. Approximately 25 minutes into the final leg of the cross-country flight from Alice to Brownsville, the engine lost power. When emergency procedures to restore engine power were unsuccessful, a forced landing was made into a field with soft soil. Examination of the aircraft revealed that the left fuel tank was empty and the right tank was full. The fuel selector was found in the left position.
Factual narrative
On January 19, 1996, at 1600 central standard time, a Piper PA- 38-112, N598Z, registered to Avlease, Inc. and operated by Flight Training Systems, Inc., as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing near Falfurrias, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan was filed. The student pilot was not injured. The flight originated in Brownsville, Texas, approximately 4 hours 30 minutes before the accident.
On the enclosed Pilot/Operator Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2), the pilot stated that he departed Brownsville for Corpus Christi, Texas, to practice "touch and go's." The flight then proceeded to Rockport, Texas, where the pilot executed a full-stop landing. While in Rockport, the fuel tanks were topped off. During the preflight, the pilot "found that both fuel tanks were full" and subsequently, the flight departed to Alice, Texas.
The pilot further reported that "I did my preflight again and I found out that there was still enough fuel in both fuel [tanks] to go to Brownsville." The flight departed Alice at 1535 central standard time. Approximately 25 minutes into the return flight, the engine lost power and the "fuel pressure needle dropped to the red line." Emergency procedures by the pilot did not restore engine power. Subsequently, the pilot executed a forced landing to a field with soft soil.
Examination of the airplane by the FAA inspector and the operator's mechanic revealed that the left fuel tank was empty, the gascolator did not contain fuel, and the right fuel tank was full. The FAA inspector reported that the fuel selector was on the left tank. Structural damage occurred to the right wing, and fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N598Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A0353
- Airframe hours
- 1,798
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2A, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight Training Systems, Inc., doing business as Southwind
- Registered owner
- Avlease, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 22, 1995 · 59 hours before
- Departed
- ALI · Alice, TX
- Destination
- BRO · Brownsville, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 25
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 125 total · 125 in this make and model · 46 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.