- Date
- June 7, 2008, 11:40 local (17:40 UTC)
- Place
- Kykotsmovi, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9276TPiper PA-38-112
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080607839899A
- Case key
- 68189
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 due to the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and failure to ensure that adequate fuel was onboard to complete the flight.
Findings · 1
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 believed he took off with 14 gallons of fuel aboard, and flew toward his destination, 170 miles away. He calculated that the fight should take 1 hour 40 minutes. En route he noticed that fuel was disappearing quickly, and assumed there was a headwind. After 1 hour 40 minutes, the airplane ran out of fuel, 57 statute miles from his destination, and the pilot landed in the desert. At a fuel consumption rate of 5.3 gallons per hour, the total actual fuel aboard at the time of takeoff was most likely 9 gallons.
Factual narrative
In a written statement, the pilot reported that he took off with 14 gallons of fuel on board. The flight south from Bull Frog Basin Airport, Utah, to Winslow, Arizona, should have taken 1 hour 40 minutes, with a fuel consumption of 5.3 gallons per hour. The pilot noticed that fuel was disappearing quickly and assumed there was a headwind. After 1 hour 40 minutes (1.7 hours), the airplane ran out of fuel 57 statute miles north of Winslow, and landed in the desert. The straight line distance between Bull Frog Basin Airport and Winslow is 170 statute miles.
At 1700, winds aloft at Flagstaff were reported from 225 degrees at 21 knots, at 8,000 feet mean sea level (msl). At 10,000 feet msl, winds were reported from 230 degrees at 29 knots.
Using a fuel consumption rate of 5.3 gallons per hour, a 1.7-hour flight would consume 9 gallons of fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9276T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0313
- Airframe hours
- 5,221
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 126 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Barry W. McDaniel
- Registered owner
- Barry W. McDaniel and Anthony Decastro
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 2007
- Departed
- KU07 · Bull Frog, UT
- Destination
- KINW · Winslow, AZ
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
- 62
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- July 1, 2007
- Flight hours
- 308 total · 233 in this make and model · 195 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.