- Date
- January 6, 1993, 00:12 local (05:12 UTC)
- Place
- Tampa, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1439PPiper PA-23
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 10, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930106000189A
- Case key
- 33216
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
Poor in-flight planning/decision by the CFI resulting in the total loss of engine power from both engines due to fuel exhaustion.
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 pvt-rated student received a wx briefing before the flt & was advised that fog was forecast to exist at the destination at the estimated time of arrival. The estimated time en route was 3 hrs with 4 hrs of fuel on board. The flt departed at 2027. The flt was cleared for an ILS approach & the CFI let the student fly part of the approach but took control & performed a missed approach at minimums. The flight was cleared for another ILS apch which terminated with a missed apch. The flt then requested clearance to a nearby arpt. The flt was cleared for an ILS apch, & when it was inbound on the final approach, the tower controller was advised that an engine quit and they were 'outta fuel.' The airplane was then ditched near a bridge & all occupants exited the airplane before it sank. The airplane was recovered 5 days after the accident & the fuel tanks were drained which revealed the lt tank did not contain any fuel. The rt fuel tank contained about 8 ounces of fuel. The accident occurred at 0012, approximately 3 hrs 45 minutes after takeoff.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1439P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23-498
- Airframe hours
- 3,095
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Coulson, Jeffrey A.
- Registered owner
- Coulson, Jeffrey A.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 20, 1992 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- CAE · Columbia, SC
- Destination
- PIE · St. Petersburg, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- TPA · Tampa International
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
- 26
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,550 total · 200 in this make and model · 2,420 as pilot in command · 85 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 20° at 4 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 100 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TPA, 3 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.