- Date
- September 4, 2012, 08:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Lancaster, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N308DFPiper PA-32-300
- Defining event
- Enroute-climb to cruise: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 5, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120904021479A
- Case key
- 84949
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 student pilot’s inadvertent selection of an empty fuel tank.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot was flying solo back to her home airport after completing a lesson with a flight instructor. Before the flight instructor exited the airplane, the student pilot verified that the right main fuel tank was selected and full. However, as the airplane climbed through about 700 feet above ground level, the engine began to sputter. The student pilot checked the ignition switch and turned on the boost pump. She elected to land straight ahead in an empty field rather than try to turn back to the runway and made a soft field, power-off landing. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear began to sink into a furrow. The airplane’s nose gear collapsed, resulting in damage to the firewall. The student stated that the fuel selector valve had been problematic due to the lightness of the stop between the right main and the right wing tip positions. On previous occasions, she had noticed that it could be inadvertently moved from the right main to the tip, and had developed a method of planting her hand before selecting the right main so as to prevent the selector from moving through the stop to the right tip. After the accident, she verified that the fuel selector was in the right tip tank position, and that tank was empty.
Factual narrative
The student pilot was flying back to her home airport after completing a flight lesson with a certified instructor pilot (CFI). Prior to letting the CFI out of the airplane, the student verified that the right main fuel tank was active and full. About 700 feet above ground level, the engine began to sputter. The student pilot checked the ignition switch, and turned on the boost pump. She elected to land straight ahead into an empty field rather that attempt to turn back to the runway, and made a soft field power-off landing. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear began to sink into a furrow. This twisted the airplane; the nose gear collapsed, and the right main landing gear was bent. The student pilot was not injured. She stated that the fuel selector valve had been problematic due to its position and the lightness of the stop between the right main and the right wing tip positions. On previous occasions, she had noticed that it could be inadvertently moved from the right main to the tip, and had developed a method of planting her hand before selecting the right main so as to prevent the selector from moving through the stop to the right tip. After the accident, she verified that the fuel selector was in the right tip tank position, and that tank was empty.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N308DF
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7840015
- Airframe hours
- 2,803
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1G5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cangiano Lorene D
- Registered owner
- Cangiano Lorene D
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · November 18, 2011
- Departed
- WJF · Lancaster, CA
- Destination
- L70 · Agua Dulce, CA
- Airport
- WJF · William J Fox
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 140 total · 120 in this make and model · 28 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KWJF
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 12, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.