Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Covington Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Covington, Georgia 30209
Friday, October 13, 1995 15:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed with less than full fuel due to weight and balance considerations. En route, the pilot recognized a fuel shortage condition existed while the flight was near an airport with an ILS approach. The flight continued, and the pilot advised that the frequency congestion increased and ATC control was transferred to several sectors. The pilot then declared minimum fuel to the controller after he was advised that the flight was 50 miles from the planned destination. The controller vectored the flight to a nearby airport with an instrument approach, and while descending toward that airport, the engine sputtered momentarily then regained power when the fuel selector was positioned to the opposite tank. The pilot then declared an emergency and the flight was vectored direct toward the airport. After descending below the base of the clouds, the engine again sputtered. The pilot landed the airplane in a field with uneven terrain. It collided with an elevated gravel road, separating the nose gear, and became airborne. The airplane touched down again and the left main landing gear collapsed. Postcrash examination revealed that the fuel selector was positioned to the right fuel tank which was found to contain 3.5 gallons of fuel. The left wing fuel tank was empty.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to divert to an alternate airport after recognizing a low fuel state existed and his delay to declare an emergency with ATC. Contributing to the accident was the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/13/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1537 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | COVINGTON |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30209 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | COVINGTON MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 9A1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1547 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 292 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PDK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1002 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 2044 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 13 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3250R |
| NTSB Number | MIA96LA008 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-31251 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 28 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 6234 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AIR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1000 N. HERCULES AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CLEARWATER |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34625 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CLW |
| Departure City | CLEARWATER |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1213 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PDK |
| Destination City | ATLANTA |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |