- Date
- September 2, 1999, 19:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Greenville, ME
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2584PPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990902043699A
- Case key
- 47317
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 in command's inattentive management of the fuel supply.
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 stated that he had departed with the fuel selected on the left tank. While maneuvering over some clear-cut timber, at an altitude of about 300 feet above the ground, the engine suddenly quit. The pilot realized that he had exhausted the fuel in the left tank and attempted to switch to the right tank, which had about 12 gallons of fuel remaining. The engine did not respond, and a forced landing was made to a dirt road.
Factual narrative
On September 2, 1999, about 1900 Eastern Daylight Time, a Piper PA-18-150, N2584P, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Greenville, Maine. The certificated commercial pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that he had departed from his home on Moosehead Lake, Maine, about 1830, with the fuel selected on the left tank. While maneuvering over some clear-cut timber, at an altitude of about 300 feet above the ground, the engine suddenly quit. The pilot realized that he had exhausted the fuel in the left tank and attempted to switch to the right tank, which had about 12 gallons of fuel remaining. The engine did not respond, and a forced landing was made to a dirt road. The airplane touched down on it's floats, coming to rest upright.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2584P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-4326
- Airframe hours
- 2,228
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B-2-B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard E. Kennedy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 15, 1999 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Greenville, ME
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
- 72
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,537 total · 48 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MLT, 41 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.