Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Haven Area Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Haven, Michigan 49090
Monday, March 24, 2003 14:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot performed an off airport landing from an airport traffic pattern and collided with trees after a total loss of engine power. The pilot reported that he could not reach the runway from the base leg because of a strong headwind. The pilot diverted to the airport after being concerned that he would run out of fuel while en route to his intended destination. The flight departed five hours before the accident. The pilot reported that he should have had enough fuel based upon his calculations to reach his intended destination. He based his calculations on a leaning technique which employed a loss of rpm followed by an increase in the mixture control of about 3/4 of an inch and fuel gauge indications. Based upon Federal Aviation Administration guidance information, the airplane had a "safe flight time" of 4 hours and 30 minutes. In addition, fuel gauges are only calibrated to accurately indicate an empty tank.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate fuel consumption calculations by the pilot and the fuel exhaustion. The inadequate traffic pattern distance from the runway, which precluded his reaching the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | South Haven |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49090 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422103N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0861522W |
| Event Location Airport | South Haven Area Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0D1 |
| 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 | 663 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BEH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.74 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13938 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 24 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1456 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43456 |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA090 |
| 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-28-151 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7415499 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | Jan 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 7051 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dodgen Aircraft |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 740 Grand Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Allegan |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49010 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GOK |
| Departure City | Guthrie |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 0D1 |
| Destination City | SOUTH HAVEN |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2003 3:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 4300 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |