Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Manassas Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Manassas, Virginia 20108
Thursday, August 22, 2002 21:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After a 2-hour night flight, the engine began to "sputter," and subsequently lost total power. The pilot performed an uneventful forced landing to a light highway. Since the airplane was blocking vehicle traffic, the pilot elected to taxi the airplane from the road to a grass area. During the taxi, the airplane struck a metal road sign with the left wing. Examination of the airplane revealed that both fuel tanks were empty and there was no evidence of fuel leakage at the accident site. Additionally, the pilot stated after the accident that he had been flying for about 2 hours and ran out of fuel. The pilot did not refuel during the flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate pre-flight planning, and his inadequate visual lookout while taxing on an off airport road. A factor related to the accident was the dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2145 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Manassas |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20108 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384255N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0772829W |
| Event Location Airport | Manassas Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HEF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 130 |
| Airport Elevation | 192 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2155 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HEF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 190 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 14980 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-27 Dulles, VA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9089C |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA174 |
| 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-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8690016 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James D. Hurd |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alexandria |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22311 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aviation Adventures |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Manassas |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | HEF |
| Departure City | Manassas |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HEF |
| Destination City | Manassas |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2003 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |