Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flying W Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newbolds Corner, New Jersey 08060
Sunday, February 17, 2002 9:39 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of the Piper PA-28-140 reported that he departed on a cross-country flight with full fuel tanks. After 2 hours and 5 minutes of flight, the engine lost power, and he performed a forced landing to a field. Examination of the airplane revealed no fuel in the tanks, and a fuel stain on the firewall. When fuel was added and the fuel system pressurized, fuel leaked from the b-nut at the exit side of the engine driven fuel pump. The b-nut was able to be tightened two full turns by hand. The engine had recently been removed and replaced, and the fuel sensors in the wings changed. The maintenance was performed at an FAA approved repair station. However, there was no specific requirement for inspection of fuel lines prior to returning the airplane to service. In addition, the pilot reported that he did not believe the accuracy of the fuel gauges.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper maintenance which resulted in a loss of fuel and subsequent loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Factors were the pilot's failure to monitor the fuel quantity gauges, and the gusty wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 939 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Newbolds Corner |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08060 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395732N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0744644W |
| Event Location Airport | Flying W Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N14 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 53 |
| Airport Elevation | 49 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 265 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VAY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 53 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -725 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13002 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1125 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 17 2003 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N56885 |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA062 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7425058 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | Feb 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6116.65 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Allan Wagner |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7106 Ocean Front Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Virginia Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23451 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Alan L. Wagner |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | BED |
| Departure City | Bedford |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ACY |
| Destination City | Atlantic City |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2002 3:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |