Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dunkirk Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dunkirk, New York 14048
Wednesday, October 14, 1998 2:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that while on a night flight under instrument flight rules, in visual conditions, he noticed a change in engine performance. After switching fuel tanks and adjusting the power and propeller levers, he turned the airplane toward an airport beacon and continued under partial power. While on final approach, the airplane lost all engine power and a forced landing was performed 1/4 mile short of the landing runway. Three of four fuel tanks were ruptured, but 8 gallons were contained in an auxiliary tip tank. Fuel was not found at the injector, engine driven fuel pump, electric driven fuel pump, or the outlet of the fuel selector valve. The engine and airframe fuel supply components were tested and found to be operational. The spark plugs were removed and the electrodes were white with no trace of gray. The engine started and ran in a test cell after the accident. However, a detailed examination revealed that the engine driven fuel pump leaked and the left magneto was not configured to factory specifications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate fuel management that resulted in fuel starvation. Factors in the accident were the improperly timed magneto and an engine driven fuel pump leak.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/14/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 200 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | DUNKIRK |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14048 |
| 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 | DUNKIRK AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DKK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 240 |
| Airport Elevation | 693 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DKK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 693 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1797 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 14 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 848 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:50AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8619N |
| NTSB Number | IAD99LA010 |
| 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-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7140011 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 22 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 5604 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCHEUFLER INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1151 MARKS ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | VALLEY CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44280 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CASTLE AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4039 NANWAY BLVD |
| Operator City | RAVENNA |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 44266 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BUF |
| Departure City | BUFFALO |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 140 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 29G |
| Destination City | RAVENNA |
| Destination State | OH |
| 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 | 6 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |