Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Patillas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Las Palmas, Puerto Rico 00791
Wednesday, October 23, 2002 16:00 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Following a 30 minute flight from Humacao, Puerto Rico, the pilot's first attempt to land on runway 10 at Patillas Airport, Las Palmas, resulted in a go-around because the approach path was too high. During the go-around, at between 400 and 500 feet agl, the engine lost partial power, and the pilot elected to execute a quick course reversal and land on runway 28. The emergency approach and landing were fast and long, necessitating another go-around with whatever power was available. The pilot managed to over-fly the airport perimeter fence, but collided with the terrain on the other side of the fence, sustaining substantial damage to the aircraft. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed the fuel selector was selected to the right fuel tank, which was found empty. The pilot stated he had not switched tanks since takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to switch fuel tanks resulting in a partial loss of engine power due to fuel starvation during a go-around. Additionally, the pilot's failure to monitor airspeed and proper touchdown point during the emergency landing resulted in another go-around attempt with partial power and inadequate airspeed that caused a collision with a field off the end of the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/23/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Las Palmas |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00791 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 175900N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0660100W |
| Event Location Airport | Patillas |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X64 |
| 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 | 280 |
| Airport Elevation | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TJNR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 39 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12831 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SJU FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1711 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Juan |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2838T |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA006 |
| 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 | 28-7225247 |
| 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 | Oct 4 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2797 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | East Wing Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | HC-02 Box 11522 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Humacao |
| Aircraft Owner State | PR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00791 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | X63 |
| Departure City | Humacao |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | 1540 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | X64 |
| Destination City | Las Palmas |
| Destination State | PR |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Go-around (VFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2002 2:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |