- Date
- July 23, 1983, 18:50 local (22:50 UTC)
- Place
- Merritt Island, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3936PPiper PA-22-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830723038089A
- Case key
- 30917
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 plt reported that during the preflt, he did not visually check the fuel tanks, but relied of the fuel gauges. They indicated there was 7 gal in the left tank & 4 gal in the right tank. The plt took off using fuel from the left tank to practice touch-and-go landings, then a short time later, changed to the right tank. While taking off from the 2nd touch-and-go, the eng lost power at aprx 400 ft AGL. The plt atttempted to switch back to the left tank, but made an emergency landing with the fuel selector back on the right tank. The acft came to rest, upright, in a drainage ditch. The plt report that during the landing roll-out, the acft went into heavy brush & that he was not aware of the location of the ditch. Four gal of fuel was drained from the the left tank, but no fuel was found in the right tank.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3936P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-3611
- Airframe hours
- 2,741
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A1A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles F. Broome
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1983
- Airport
- COI · Merritt Island, runway 29, 3,600 × 75 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
- 58
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 538 total · 375 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MLB, 13 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.