Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Horizon City, Texas 79836
Saturday, October 3, 1998 12:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane lost engine power while in cruise flight due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot stated that he encountered unforecasted headwinds that added 30 minutes to the planned flight time resulting in a total flight time of 4 hours. He observed the fuel gauges reading lower than he expected, but thought the airplane had enough fuel to make it to the West Texas Airport, El Paso, Texas, where he planned to refuel the airplane. Subsequently, the right tank ran out of fuel. Fifteen minutes later, when the left fuel tank was selected, the engine lost power. A forced landing was executed to rough and uneven terrain, 7 miles southeast of the West Texas Airport, El Paso, Texas. An FAA inspector examined the site and found no evidence of fuel at the site. He stated that the left tank was empty and the right tank contained 1/4 inches of fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane. Factors were the unfavorable wind condition and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | HORIZON CITY |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79836 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 140 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1251 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3956 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 558 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1559 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8194W |
| NTSB Number | FTW99LA002 |
| 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 | 282321 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Oct 7 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 2680 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM P. HEDGES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 118 CHERRY RIDGE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78213 |
| 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 | SAT |
| Departure City | SAN ANTONIO |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LAX |
| Destination City | LOS ANGELES |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 | -- |