Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Petoskey, Michigan 49770
Sunday, September 23, 2001 14:38 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that the previous evening they had flown from Pontiac, Michigan, to Mackinac Island. He said that he figured the people, baggage, and fuel for the trip and determined that there would be enough fuel to fly from Pontiac to Mackinac Island, and then from Mackinac Island to Pellston, Michigan. The pilot said he planned to refuel at Pellston because they don't sell fuel at the Mackinac Island Airport. He said that when he taxied out for departure from Mackinac Island, he had 12 gallons of fuel in each tank. He said that Pellston was 10 minutes away. After takeoff, the pilot contacted ARTCC and received vectors to the ILS approach for Pellston. The weather at Pellston was ceilings of 800 broken, 1,500 overcast, 2-1/2 miles visibility with moderate rain. While on the localizer, the pilot reported losing the localizer. ARTCC provided vectors to the localizer. The pilot informed the controller he was low on fuel. The pilot intercepted the localizer and reported he was established on the approach. Three minutes later, the pilot informed ARTCC he was missed approach. The ARTCC controller asked the pilot what his intentions were. The pilot said he was low on fuel and needed to get down, and requested if there was an airport nearby that had good visibility. The controller provided weather information for several airports and a pilot report for Charlevoix. After considering the options, the pilot elected to proceed to Charlevoix and then decided to go to Gaylord, Michigan. Approximately 6 minutes later, the pilot reported losing an engine. The controller told the pilot the Harbor Springs Airport (D87) was 8 miles southeast of his position and asked the pilot if he still wanted to go to Gaylord? The pilot said yes. The controller asked the pilot if he had any approach plates for D87. The pilot said that he didn't have enough fuel to make D87. The controller said that D87 was now 8 miles in front of him and that he was set up for the RNAV approach to runway 10. The pilot said he would need help with the instructions to fly the approach. The pilot and the controller exchanged information for the approach. Approximately 13 minutes after losing the first engine, the pilot reported losing his other engine. The controller gave the pilot vectors to get him back toward D87. The pilot said that when he came out of the clouds he was 300 to 400 feet above the water. He said he could see the shore to his left. The pilot made a 30-degree turn toward the shore. The pilot put the airplane down on the shoreline. The airplane nosed over. An examination of the airplane showed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, the pilot's improper in-flight decisions, and the unsuitable terrain for landing. A factor relating to this accident was fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/23/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1438 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Petoskey |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49770 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PLN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 720 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 627 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12327 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 23 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1647 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, MI FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N952JW |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA322 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7770204 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 12 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 6464.56 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Randolph M. Rice |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2295 Childs Lake Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Milford |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48381 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | MCD |
| Departure City | Mackinac Island |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PLN |
| Destination City | Pelston |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2002 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |