- Date
- January 18, 1988, 15:20 local (19:20 UTC)
- Place
- San Juan, PR
- Injuries
- 7 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4818SPiper PA-32-260
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880118000849A
- Case key
- 32125
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 pilot, while on an on-demand air taxi flight, switched to an empty fuel tank in preparation for landing and the engine failed. The pilot then executed a forced landing to the grass short of the runway and the landing gear failed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4818S
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-1278
- Airframe hours
- 8,574
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-E4B5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Fajardo Air Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 8, 1987 · 44 hours before
- Departed
- TCPX · Culebra, PR
- Airport
- J1G · Isla Grande, runway 9, 5,317 × 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
- 31
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 107 in this make and model · 1,830 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TSJU, 7 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.