Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sugar Land Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Thursday, June 8, 2000 17:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After departure, the airplane was climbing through 1,500 feet, when the engine 'spooled down.' The pilot stated that he pushed the engine controls forward and turned on the auxiliary fuel pump; however, he did not detect a change in engine power. The pilot elected to make a forced landing in a field approximately 2 miles from the departure airport. During the landing roll, the left main landing gear impacted an ant hill and separated. The FAA inspector found the fuel selector in the off position. He added that he found the left auxiliary fuel tank 'completely empty,' the left and right main fuel tanks full, and the right auxiliary fuel tank containing 3.5 gallons of fuel. The airplane was taken to an aircraft maintenance facility where mechanics test ran the engine on the airplane. The mechanics reported that the engine would not start and run with the left auxiliary fuel tank selected; however, the engine started and ran for approximately 15 minutes on each of the remaining fuel tanks. The FAA inspector stated that the pilot indicated that he thought he had taken off with the left main fuel tank selected.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel tank selection, which resulted in fuel starvation. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/8/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | SUGAR LAND |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77478 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SUGAR LAND MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SGR |
| 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 | 330 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1720 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 82 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | 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) | 671 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 8 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9407W |
| NTSB Number | FTW00LA202 |
| 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-28-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-235 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-11114 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3492 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J. K. MUNNERLYN JR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10002 GROVER LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77041 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HAROLD E. ARMSTRONG |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 815 FROSTWOOD |
| Operator City | HOUSTON |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 77024 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SGR |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IWS |
| Destination City | HOUSTON |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 10 2001 4:05AM |
| 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 | -- |