Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bluffton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bluffton, Ohio 45817
Saturday, August 3, 2002 22:25 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was serviced with a full load of fuel, and the pilot completed two flights without incident. The pilot then departed on a third flight. After completing the en route portion, and while preparing to land, the engine lost all power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine, and executed a forced landing to a field. The airplane touched down, rolled about 400 feet, the nose wheel collapsed, and the airplane came to a sudden stop. The accident flight was conducted with the fuel selector in the right outboard position, and at engine start, the selected tank had approximately 23.5 gallons of usable fuel. Fuel calculations done during the course of the investigation showed that approximately 22.0 gallons of fuel was required to complete the flight with no reserve. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the right outboard tank was intact and empty.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's fuel mismanagement with his failure to position the fuel selector to the proper tank which resulted in engine fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2225 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bluffton |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45817 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405222N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0835320W |
| Event Location Airport | Bluffton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 5G7 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 155 |
| Airport Elevation | 851 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2256 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 54 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FDY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 813 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13715 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Cleveland FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 6 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 18 2004 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cleveland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N110CF |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA153 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7540003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 4677 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Blue Horizons Flying Club, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4400 Moline Martin Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wood |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43447 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 5G7 |
| Departure City | Bluffton |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 5G7 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 19 2003 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| 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 | -- |