Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tipejuanes Mexico
Friday, November 17, 1995 17:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On November 17, 1995, at approximately 1700 central standard time, a Piper PA-23-160, N3283P, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Tipejuanes, Mexico. The commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by a private owner. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross country flight for which a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, at approximately 1300.
The pilot reported that the left engine lost power shortly after he switched to the left auxiliary fuel tank while in cruise flight en route to La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. The pilot added that the airplane was unable to maintain altitude and he elected to execute a gear up landing to a clearing in the mountains. A post impact fire engulfed the right engine.
The pilot further stated that he visually checked the quality of the fuel after he refueled the airplane at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He stated that he suspected that "the lost of power was due to fuel starvation due to contaminated fuel plugging the fuel screen for the left engine."
The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Mexico. Any further information may be obtained from:
Subsecretaria de Transportes Direccion General de Aviacion Civil (DGAC) Providencia 807, Cuarto Piso Colonia del Valle 03100 Mexico, D.F. This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information released by or obtained by the Government of Mexico.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/17/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | TIPEJUANES |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | MEXICO |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 14000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 7000 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 25 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 847 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2003 12:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3283P |
| NTSB Number | FTW96WA342 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-160 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-23-160 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| 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 | ROUTE 2, BOX 143-B |
| Operator City | GRAND SALINE |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 75140 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NLD |
| Departure City | NUEVO LAREDO |
| Departure State | MX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAP |
| Destination City | LA PAZ |
| Destination State | MX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2000 10:27PM |
| 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 | -- |