- Date
- April 18, 1990, 15:49 local (19:49 UTC)
- Place
- Marco Island, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N91309Piper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 10, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900418011919A
- Case key
- 32557
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 improper planning & decision by the pilot, and an inadvertent stall/spin while maneuvering for a 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 pilot departed naples municipal airport, naples, Florida, VFR on a personal flight at 1130 hours. The airplane was observed conducting touch and go landings at the Marco Island municipal airport, Marco Island, Florida between 1300-1400 hours and departed at an unknown time. The airplane wreckage was initially spotted at 1700 hours in unknown bay, but was thought to be a sunken boat. The civil air patrol spotted the airplane at 1925 hours and notified the authorities, who responded to the crash site. Aircraft records and hobbs meter in the airplane, indicate it had been operated 4 hrs & 36 min. Aircraft performance charts indicate fuel exhaustion at 4 hrs & 24 min. There was no evidence of fuel at crash site or purchase of fuel by the pilot. Physical evidence indicates inflight loss of control. The airplane stalled and spun to the left and impacted the water. There was no evidence of any powerplant, airframe or flight control failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N91309
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-81A0158
- Airframe hours
- 4,557
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2A, 118 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Todd A. Arthur & Dwayne Dyer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 5, 1990 · 56 hours before
- Departed
- APF · Naples, FL
- Destination
- APF · Naples, FL
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 168 total · 82 in this make and model · 110 as pilot in command · 125 in the last 90 days · 123 in the last 30 days · 18 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY, 46 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.