Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ellisburg, New York 13626
Wednesday, July 6, 1994 9:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHILE IN CRUISE FLIGHT, THE PILOT SWITCHED FUEL TANKS TO BALANCE THE FUEL LOAD. AS SOON AS HE DID THIS, THE ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGHLY. HE RETURNED THE FUEL SELECTOR TO THE FIRST TANK AND THE ENGINE PERFORMED NORMALLY. HE ELECTED TO NOT TRY SWITCHING TANKS AGAIN. HIS FUEL SUPPLY WAS TOO LOW TO REACH THE DESTINATION AIRPORT WITH THE FUEL REMAINING IN THE ONE TANK. HE COULD NOT LOCATE ANOTHER AIRPORT AT WHICH TO LAND, SO HE ELECTED TO PERFORM A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING IN A FIELD. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE AIRPLANE ENCOUNTERED SOFT TERRAIN AND THE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED, DAMAGING THE WING SPAR. THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT REGISTERED AND DID NOT HAVE AN AIRWORTHINESS CERTIFICATE. RECORDS INDICATED THAT THE LAST ANNUAL INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED ON JANUARY 6, 1992. THE PILOT WAS INTERVIEWED THE FIRST DAY, BUT HE DID NOT RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR COMPLETION OF THE PILOT/OPERATOR AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A FUEL OR FUEL SYSTEM PROBLEM THAT WAS PROBABLY RELATED TO THE PILOT/OWNER'S FAILURE TO ASSURE PROPER MAINTENANCE AND/OR INSPECTION OF THE AIRPLANE BEFORE FLIGHT. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: SOFT TERRAIN IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/6/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ELLISBURG |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13626 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 107 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 7 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2150 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5839P |
| NTSB Number | NYC94LA114 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24920 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Not Registered |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 6 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3037 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 5G0 |
| Departure City | LEROY |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | ALEXANDER BAY |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 3 2001 9:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |