- Date
- May 12, 1990, 16:10 local (23:10 UTC)
- Place
- Mesa, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6431WPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900512015659A
- Case key
- 26801
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-in-command's failure to maintain safe airspeed and inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's misjudging fuel supply.
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 entered the traffic pattern for landing and made a right turn when the engine lost power. The pilot reported that upon departure, the left fuel tank was empty and the right tank was 1/4 full. During the ensuing emergency, the pilot over-shot his intended landing point. The pilot then made a right 180 degree turn back to the field and stalled the airplane. The airplane collided with terrain short of the intended runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6431W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-20501
- Airframe hours
- 3,651
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William J. Beyer, III
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 16, 1989
- Departed
- P19 · Chandler, AZ
- Airport
- FFZ · Falcon Field, runway 22L, 5,100 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 375 total · 353 in this make and model · 375 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °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.