Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Felton, Pennsylvania 17322
Monday, December 2, 1996 20:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed the round trip cross country flight with a total of 50 gallons of fuel. The first flight was 2 hours and 15 minutes. Prior to the return night flight, the pilot elected not to refuel the airplane. The airplane was one hour into the return flight, 70 nautical miles from the departure point, and 90 miles from the final destination, when the engine lost total power. The pilot then performed a forced landing, during which the airplane impacted trees. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact failures with the airplane. A few tablespoons of fuel was observed in the carburetor gascolator. Both main fuel tanks had ruptured and were absent of fuel. There was no evidence of a fuel spill in the vicinity of the wreckage. The last refueling facility was tested and found free from contamination. The fuel burn was calculated to be 14 gallons per hour allowing a total flight endurance of 3.5 hours with no reserve. The airplane was operated for 3.3 hours prior to losing total engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and preparation, and his failure to refuel which resulted in fuel exhaustion and the subsequent collision with trees during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/2/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FELTON |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 17322 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | 2045 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LNS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 403 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2008 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 2 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5538J |
| NTSB Number | NYC97FA025 |
| 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-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-1002 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 2 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 54 |
| Airframe Hours | 3077 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KIRK T WILLIAM |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 50 HENRY CT |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOLLYWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20636 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AIRPARK SALES AND SERVICE, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 40 |
| Operator City | HOLLYWOOD |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 20636 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | AVP |
| Departure City | SCRANTON |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1940 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 2W6 |
| Destination City | LEONARDTOWN |
| Destination State | MD |
| 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 | -- |