Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bonham, Texas 75418
Friday, March 14, 2003 17:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was painted at a maintenance facility prior to being delivered to its new owner. A private pilot was contacted by the maintenance facility to ferry the airplane. The 90-hour pilot reported that she flew on the right tank for the first 30 minutes of the flight, changing the fuel selector every hour thereafter. The pilot added that to switch the fuel selector, she had to move her left leg and look at the fuel selector every time she switched tanks since she was unable to feel the detent to make sure the selector was in the proper position. About 10 minutes after leveling-off at 3,000 feet, while 25-nautical miles from her next refueling stop, the pilot reported a rough running engine, followed by a complete loss of engine power. The airplane was too low to make the field and the airplane collided with matured trees just short of the selected field. The engine was removed from the airframe and after installing a test propeller, the engine was successfully ran to 2,400 RPMs. Further examination of the fuel system revealed that the fuel selector placard (Piper P/N 63832) was the correct type for this airplane; however, the pointer (handle) was not the correct type for this model aircraft. The installed pointer(handle) was to be used on later models of the airplane (s/n 28-7105001 and up). The installed pointer (handle) was found to have the fuel valve shaft indexed differently than the correct pointer (Piper P/N 63949) for this model, and the pointer would not properly align with the placard. An unknown installer appeared to have re-drilled the holes in the placard and cocked it about 45 degrees so the pointer would align with the placard and the detents in the valve.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as result of the unapproved fuel selector valve handle installed on the aircraft by an unknown person. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/14/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Bonham |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75418 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333642N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0961045W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1752 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14267 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO, Dallas, TX. |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1005 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dallas, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5264L |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA113 |
| 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-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-4562 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 19 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4514.76 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ed Schlosser |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 33 East Main St |
| Aircraft Owner City | Springerville |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85928 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 33 East Main St |
| Operator City | Springerville |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85928 |
| 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 | MEI |
| Departure City | Meridian |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | F39 |
| Destination City | Sherman |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 19 2003 9:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |