- Date
- December 21, 1994, 17:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Sarasota, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N82895Piper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941221044079A
- Case key
- 37713
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
In flight planning decision delay by the pilot-in-command in that he failed to divert to an alternate airport before loss of engine power 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
Fuel servicing was not obtained before departure. During the flight the pilot elected to divert to an alternate airport to obtain fuel but while in the traffic pattern to land, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. After landing on a road, the airplane collided with a road sign.
Factual narrative
On December 21, 1994, about 1720 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N82895, registered to Bay Air Flying Service, Inc., collided with a road sign during the landing roll following a forced landing near the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, Sarasota, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an IFR flight plan was filed for the flight to the Albert Whitted Airport, St. Petersburg, Florida. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from the Key West International Airport, Key West, Florida, about 1530.
The flight was a return flight to the Albert Whitted Airport from the Key West Airport. Fuel servicing was not obtained at the Key West Airport. The pilot stated that he did not activate his IFR flight plan and during the flight, he elected to divert to the Sarasota Airport. While on a right base to land, the engine failed due to fuel exhaustion. He landed the airplane on a road and during the landing roll, the left wing collided with a road sign. The fuel tanks which were not damaged were drained. The left and right fuel tanks were found to contain .02 and .06 of a gallon of fuel respectively.
Postaccident examination of the airplane by personnel who recovered the airplane revealed that both fuel caps were installed and there was no evidence of fuel siphoning.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N82895
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8390006
- Airframe hours
- 6,797
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4K, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bay Air Flying Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 29, 1994 · 48 hours before
- Departed
- EYW · Key West, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 25
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 835 total · 91 in this make and model · 693 as pilot in command · 125 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SRQ, 5 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.