- Date
- September 12, 1991, 17:40 local (21:40 UTC)
- Place
- Akron, OH
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9302TPiper PA38-112
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 27, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910912039789A
- Case key
- 36810
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
The pilot lost control of the airplane and inadvertently stalled and spun the airplane at too low an altitude to allow recovery. Factors related to the accident were; the pilot's improper preflight and planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a loss of engine power, a forced landing, an improper procedure by turning back to the airport, and the pilot's lack of total flight experience.
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 was flying in the airport traffic pattern doing touch and go landings for about 1.2 hours. Shortly after take off from runway 07, the airplane was seen by several witnesses at a low altitude. The witnesses said the engine lost power and the airplane made a left turn back towards the airport, then went into a nose low attitude before it impacted the ground. Examination of the wreckage at the accident site revealed that there was no fuel found in either fuel tank. Both fuel tanks were intact. The pilot was observed doing a preflight inspection, to include looking in both fuel tanks and draining fuel from each tank. The pilot was offered and declined fuel servicing. Records indicated that when the pilot started his flight, the airplane had previously been flown 3.1 hours since the last refueled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9302T
- Reported as
- Piper PA38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0012
- Airframe hours
- 1,950
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 118 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Castle Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Bayer Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 28, 1991 · 89 hours before
- Airport
- AKR · Akron/Fulton, runway 7, 6,355 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 30 total · 30 in this make and model · 22 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.