Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mount Washington Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Whitefield, New Hampshire 03598
Tuesady, August 20, 1996 18:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with the ground after takeoff about 3/4 mile from the end of the runway. Examination of the aircraft fuel system revealed that the fuel selector was in the right tank position. There was no evidence of fuel in the right tank. The left fuel tank bladder was ruptured. There was no evidence of foliage kill resulting from fuel spillage on the site. There was no strong smell of fuel on site. When the aircraft was lifted by a helicopter, an attempt to drain fuel from the main aircraft filter did not reveal any fuel in the filter. After recovery of the aircraft to a field at the Whitefield Airport, a more detailed examination of the of the fuel system revealed a small amount of fuel in the line from the left fuel tank to the fuel selector. There was no fuel in the line from the right tank to the fuel selector. The top skin was removed from the right wing and the fuel tank bladder was removed. There was no fuel in the bladder. There was a small hole near the bottom of the bladder along the inboard end. The surrounding structure was heavily creased in that area. There was no evidence of heavy fuel stains in that area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to adequately preflight the aircraft which led to the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and the pilot's attempt to return to the airport by executing a steep left turn which led to a stall and subsequent loss of control of the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1840 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | WHITEFIELD |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03598 |
| 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 | MOUNT WASHINGTON REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HIE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 1074 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1852 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1074 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| 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) | 2028 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1945 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 20 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2020 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7635P |
| NTSB Number | IAD96FA138 |
| 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-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-2847 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Sep 10 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 115 |
| Airframe Hours | 3862 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LANCASTER |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03584 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HIE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1835 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2004 9:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 3495 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |