- Date
- September 15, 1987, 19:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Emmaus, PA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N15793Piper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report October 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870915053029A
- Case key
- 30735
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
Drg flt, the eng lost power over a residential area & the plt selected a small fenced-in opening for an emergency lndg. He said he crashed nosewheel 1st, then skidded into a cyclone fence. After the acdnt, the fuel selector was fnd positioned to the rgt tank which was empty. The left tank still had 18 gallons of fuel remaining. The plt said that he had been trained in Cessna 150 & 152 acft which do not require manually changing fuel tanks. Also, he stated that 'in a cruise situation, the thought of changing tanks never entered my mind.' He had only 97 hrs total time with 5 hrs in this make & model of acft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N15793
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7325166
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 140 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Basco Flying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Allentown, PA
- Destination
- Pottstown, PA
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 97 total · 5 in this make and model · 28 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 290° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 57 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.