Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

East Hannibal, Illinois 62301
Sunday, May 3, 1998 15:25 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot indicated that he believed that the flight would be in VMC conditions for most of the flight; however, he said that for most of the flight he encountered IMC conditions. He was held prior to his initial approach for 20 minutes. On the initial approach he missed and returned to the VOR. At this point he realized that he needed to find an alternate airport and while searching for one exhausted all usable fuel. A forced landing was made to a field where on landing the airplane sustained substantial damage. Subsequent to the accident, no usable fuel remained in the fuel tanks. No mechanical anomalies were discovered. There was no evidence of fuel leaks, stains, and the fuel caps were intact and serviceable.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, and his improper in-flight planning/decision. A factor was fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/3/1998
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1525
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City EAST HANNIBAL
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62301
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 5
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1650 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID UIN
Elevation of weather observation facility 769
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 12
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 483
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 3 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1947
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:54AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N75306
NTSB Number CHI98LA139
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-28R-200
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28R-200
Aircraft Serial Number 28R-7635290
Certified Max Gross Weight 2678
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 Jul 11 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 135
Airframe Hours 6768
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BAYLOR, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 27417 CHARLES ST.
Aircraft Owner City GOSHEN
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 46526
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 K20
Departure City HAZARD
Departure State KY
Departure Country
Departure Time 940
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code UIN
Destination City QUINCY
Destination State IL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
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 --