Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Purdue Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lafayette, Indiana 47906
Tuesady, April 23, 2002 18:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane received sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during a forced landing to a golf course 3 miles north of the destination airport. The student pilot reported she was flying a solo cross-country instructional flight. She departed at 1600 EST and had landed at another airport, but had not refueled. She departed and was en route to the destination airport. The pilot reported she was cleared to land on runway 23 and was number three for landing when the engine lost power. Her altitude was about 1,600 feet MSL and she preformed an emergency landing to a golf course. During the landing rollout, the airplane nosed over. The time of the accident was 1830 EST. The pilot reported, "If I were enabled to fly again, I would remember to switch my fuel tanks (as it says on the check lists). I would not rely on habit but on the lists which are given me for the purpose of not relying on habit." The inspection of the airplane revealed no fuel in the right tank and full fuel in the left tank. The fuel selector was found in the right tank position. The engine run was performed and the engine ran with no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper fuel management resulting in the total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation and the pilot's failure to use the checklist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Lafayette |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 47906 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Purdue Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAF |
| 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 | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 606 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1754 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 606 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13152 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Indianapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N563PU |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA114 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2842105 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 17 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 1186 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Trustees of Purdue University |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Purdue Airport Hangar 6 |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Lafayette |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 47906 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FWA |
| Departure City | Fort Wayne |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LAF |
| Destination City | Lafayette |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 13 2003 3:51PM |
| 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 | -- |