Auburn Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Auburn, Alabama 36830
Wednesday, June 9, 1999 10:10 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

At an altitude of between 1,500 and 3,000 feet the airplane's engine lost complete power. The pilot attempted to land in a field, and struck the ground with the right wing. The wing separated, the airplane cartwheeled, and came to rest right side up. Several pilots heard the pilot on the Auburn UNICOM frequency, say that he was in distress, that he was experiencing engine trouble, and thought he might be out of fuel. Examination of the airplane's fuel tanks revealed about 8 ounces of fuel in the left wing, no fuel in the right fuel tank, and there were no signs of spilled fuel in the accident area. The Hobbs meter reading was 12.4 hours when the airplane was last fueled. The Hobbs meter reading after the accident was 16.2 hours, for a total of 3.8 hours total Hobbs time since the last refueling. The usable fuel for this airplane was 48 gallons. The calculated burn-rate for this flight was 12.63 gallons of fuel per hour. A burn rate of 12.63 gallons per hour, times 3.8 hours, equals 47.99 gallons of fuel used. Examination of the carburetor fuel screen revealed that it was clean and free of debris.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot' failure to refuel the airplane prior to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/9/1999
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1010
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City AUBURN
Event State ALABAMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 36830
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport AUBURN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AUO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 6
Degrees magnetic from airport 120
Airport Elevation 776
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1055 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 300
Weather Observation Facility ID AUO
Elevation of weather observation facility 776
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
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) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2728
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) 462
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 9 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:39AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N983DB
NTSB Number MIA99LA170
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-28-181
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-28-181
Aircraft Serial Number 2843247
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 16
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DAN A. BAGGETT
Aircraft Owner Street Address 940 SYCAMORE DR.
Aircraft Owner City PALO ALTO
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94303
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 LAL
Departure City LAKELAND
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 730
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 3933
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --