Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crystal Lake, Illinois 60012
Sunday, August 18, 1996 21:09 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight itinerary consisted of a 4.5-hour round-robin flight from Schaumburg, Illinois, to Eagle River, Wisconsin and return. The airplane departed Schaumburg with approximately 84 gallons of fuel, and was not refueled prior to the return flight. The pilot said he had 24 gallons in the main tanks and 4 gallons in each tip tank prior to departing Eagle River. On takeoff, the cabin door was unsecured and a return landing to the Eagle River Airport was executed. On the return flight to Schaumburg, the engine lost power several times. The pilot was able to temporarily restore power by switching between fuel tanks. The pilot decided to land in a street because he could not find a local airport. The airplane contacted parked vehicles and a residence during the landing. Both the pilot and front passenger were not wearing shoulder harnesses. The weather was observed as light to moderate rain with lighting and thunderstorms in the vicinity. Forty six ounces of fuel were drained from the left wing. The engine ran successfully at all power applications with no discrepancies noticed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate fuel management and which resulted in fuel system exhaustion. The factors involved were the pilot's failure to refuel, inadequate preflight planning/preparation and the dark night conditions encountered.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2109 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | CRYSTAL LAKE |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60012 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2108 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 345 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 758 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1479 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1406 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 19 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 322 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N823PJ |
| NTSB Number | CHI96FA309 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-40583 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 27 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 78 |
| Airframe Hours | 4299 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THREE B'S AERO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | CO J.P. BARCHELD P.O. BOX 371 |
| Aircraft Owner City | D HANIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78850 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NORTHWEST FLYERS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 903 W. SCHAUMBURG PARK ROAD |
| Operator City | SCHAUMBURG |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 60172 |
| 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 | EGV |
| Departure City | EAGLE RIVER |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 06C |
| Destination City | SCHAUMBURG |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |