- Date
- March 15, 1997, 13:16 local (19:16 UTC)
- Place
- Nashville, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2505QPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970315005939A
- Case key
- 38229
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
improper planning/decision by the pilot, by failing to ensure there was sufficient fuel to reach a suitable landing area, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, a forced landing, and collision with a tree. The faulty fuel indication was a related factor.
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
After about 3 hours of flight, the pilot contemplated stopping for fuel, but elected to continue. The flight was about 7 nautical miles west of an airport, when the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot initiated a turn to land at the nearby airport, but was unable. While descending for a forced landing, the right wing collided with a tree. The airplane then descended and came to rest upright in a field. The pilot stated that at the time of the loss of engine power, the left fuel gauge indicated empty and the right fuel gauge indicated 1/8. Examination of the airplane by an FAA airworthiness inspector revealed the fuel tanks were intact and empty.
Factual narrative
On March 15, 1997, about 1316 central standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N2505Q, registered to a private individual, experienced a total loss of engine power and was substantially damaged during a forced landing southwest of the John C. Tune Airport, Nashville, Tennessee. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an IFR flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 1030 eastern standard time from the Asheboro Municipal Airport, Asheboro, North Carolina.
The pilot stated that during cruise flight about 3 hours into the flight, he contemplated stopping at a nearby airport to refuel but elected to continue to his planned destination. The flight was about 7 nautical miles west of the John C. Tune airport when the engine experienced a loss of power. He then advised ATC of the loss of power and was vectored toward there. Unable to land at the airport the pilot executed a forced landing to a field but while descending, the right wing collided with a tree. The airplane then impacted the field and came to rest upright. The pilot further stated that at the time of the loss of engine power, the left fuel gauge indicated empty and the right fuel gauge indicated 1/8 capacity.
Examination of the airplane by an FAA airworthiness inspector revealed no fuel remaining in the fuel tanks and no fuel leakage was noted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2505Q
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7790401
- Airframe hours
- 2,493
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger N. Harper
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 26, 1996 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- W44 · Asheboro, NC
- Destination
- M02 · Dickson, TN
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- JWN · John C Tune
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 286 total · 179 in this make and model · 246 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BNA, 96 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.