Dupage Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

West Chicago, Illinois 60185
Thursday, September 29, 1994 20:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT THE LEFT ENGINE LOST POWER DURING DESCENT. AFTER SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE ENGINE POWER THE PILOT CLOSED THE THROTTLE AND FEATHERED THE LEFT PROPELLER. HE SAID HE LOWERED THE LANDING GEAR HANDLE AND OBTAINED SAFE GEAR INDICATIONS DURING THE SINGLE ENGINE APPROACH, BUT DID NOT USE THE EMERGENCY HYDRAULIC PUMP. DURING THE LANDING, THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED BOTH AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS WERE NEARLY EMPTY AND THE MAIN FUEL TANKS WERE ABOUT HALF FULL. THE TWO RIVETS WHICH MOUNT THE LEFT FUEL SELECTOR HANDLE HAD FAILED, RENDERING THE SELECTOR INOPERATIVE. FUNCTIONAL TESTS OF THE LANDING GEAR, HYDRAULIC, AND FUEL SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE CROSSFEED, REVEALED NO OTHER EVIDENCE OF MALFUNCTION.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to use the manual hydraulic pump to lower the landing gear. Factors were the failure of the fuel selector handle, the subsequent fuel starvation, and the pilot's failure to properly crossfeed and restart the left engine.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/29/1994
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2050
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City WEST CHICAGO
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 60185
Event Date Year 1994
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DUPAGE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DPA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 758
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2045 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID DPA
Elevation of weather observation facility 758
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 758
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1617
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 29 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2339
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 12:14PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5272A
NTSB Number CHI94LA351
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-23-160
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-23-160
Aircraft Serial Number 23-2109
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 18 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 5692
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SUPERSTITION AIR SERVICE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4766 FALCON DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City MESA
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85205
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
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 SUS
Departure City ST LOUIS
Departure State MO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1845
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DPA
Destination City
Destination State IL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 1L
Runway Length 5100
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --