Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hartford, Michigan 49057
Tuesady, August 20, 1996 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that he had flown the route several times before, and had planned the flight so that they would 'get back with 8/10th of an hour (of fuel) to spare.' While in cruise flight, at 3,000 feet mean sea level, the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot said that he switched tanks and started looking for a place to land. The passenger said that he saw something, perhaps a field, off of the right side of the airplane. The pilot turned the airplane toward the area. He could not make out anything. When the landing lights illuminated the trees, the pilot said he 'instinctively pulled back and tried to turn left. I hit the trees.' The airplane's elapsed time indicator read 2523.2 hours when the pilot signed out the airplane. It read 2529.9 when examined at the accident site. Examination of the wreckage showed no evidence of fuel in the fuel lines or the carburetor. Twenty ounces of fuel was recovered from the airplane's left wing tank. The pilot survived the accident and was found five days later by search and rescue personnel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
inaccurate fuel consumption calculations by the pilot before takeoff, and his improper decision not to land before his airplane ran out of fuel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 30 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | HARTFORD |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49057 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2255 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 185 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AZO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 874 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 868 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 24 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2130 |
| 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 | N9209J |
| NTSB Number | CHI96FA316 |
| 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-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-3278 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2175 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 16 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 117 |
| Airframe Hours | 2530 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MENTONE FLYING CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | BOX 938 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROCHESTER |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46975 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 83D |
| Departure City | MACKINAC ISLAND |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RCR |
| Destination City | ROCHESTER |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | -- |