- Date
- October 13, 1991, 20:30 local (Oct 14, 1991, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Duchesne, UT
- Injuries
- 2 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8379VPiper PA28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911013050759A
- Case key
- 41606
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
Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's inattention and becoming lost. A factor to the accident was the night conditions.
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
During a night cross country flight, the pilot was unaware that the airplane had drifted off course until the estimated time of arrival and the airport was not in sight. The airplane was in the air an extra 45 minutes when the pilot spotted an airport. Realizing the fuel was low, the pilot turned toward the airport. Enroute, one fuel tank was exhausted of fuel. The pilot switched to the other fuel tank and while on final approach, the remaining fuel tank was exhausted of fuel and the engine lost power. Unable to reach the runway, the airplane was landed short and collided with the terrain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8379V
- Reported as
- Piper PA28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8116215
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D36, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Alpine Aviation
- Registered owner
- Alpine Aviation
- Departed
- U07 · Bullfrog Basin, UT
- Destination
- PVU · Provo, UT
- Airport
- U69 · Duchesne, runway 34, 5,800 × 60 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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Flight hours
- 170 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.