Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
John C Tune Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
Saturday, March 15, 1997 13:16 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After about 3 hours of flight, the pilot contemplated stopping for fuel, but elected to continue. The flight was about 7 nautical miles west of an airport, when the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot initiated a turn to land at the nearby airport, but was unable. While descending for a forced landing, the right wing collided with a tree. The airplane then descended and came to rest upright in a field. The pilot stated that at the time of the loss of engine power, the left fuel gauge indicated empty and the right fuel gauge indicated 1/8. Examination of the airplane by an FAA airworthiness inspector revealed the fuel tanks were intact and empty.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
improper planning/decision by the pilot, by failing to ensure there was sufficient fuel to reach a suitable landing area, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, loss of engine power, a forced landing, and collision with a tree. The faulty fuel indication was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1316 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | NASHVILLE |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37209 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | JOHN C TUNE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JWN |
| 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 | 215 |
| Airport Elevation | 495 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1342 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 11 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BNA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 599 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 96 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 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) | 176 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1438 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2505Q |
| NTSB Number | MIA97LA098 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7790401 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2541 |
| 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 | Sep 26 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 99 |
| Airframe Hours | 2493 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROGER N. HARPER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 135 SULLIVAN RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | DICKSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37055 |
| 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 | W44 |
| Departure City | ASHEBORO |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | M02 |
| Destination City | DICKSON |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | -- |