Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tailwinds Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jupiter, Florida 33458
Saturday, August 2, 2003 13:01 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he and his wife were en route to a medical conference which was to be held aboard a cruise ship that was departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 1700. He stated that both tanks were full of fuel when he departed the Canton Regional Airport, Canton, Ohio, en route to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. According to the pilot, the inboard tanks had been selected for the first hour and a half and the outboard tanks for the following two hours. He said the flight was vectored around thunderstorms, and during the descent, when about 12 miles to the north of Palm Beach International Airport, Palm Beach, Florida, the left engine ceased operating. He said that at this time he noticed that both inboard fuel indicators showed the tanks to be empty, and he switched to the outboard tanks, both of which were shown to be a quarter full. The pilot stated that two minutes later both engines began to surge, and after making an emergency radio communications call, he was advised by the FAA Air Traffic Controller that Tailwinds Airport was located 4 miles to the west. Unable to reach the runway at Tailwinds Airport, the pilot said he made a forced landing in an orange grove. the pilot also said that prior to the accident, there had not been any mechanical failure or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane had incurred substantial damage, and there was little or no fuel present at the scene. Follow-on examination of the airplane, its fuel system and both engines revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately plan for the flight which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a forced landing, and damage to the airplane during the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1301 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Jupiter |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33458 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 265451N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801219W |
| Event Location Airport | Tailwinds Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FD15 |
| 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 | 260 |
| Airport Elevation | 19 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Abbreviated |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17458 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL. Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N876RD |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA154 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7300974 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1493 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PLF Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3422 Old Capitol Trl, Suite 621 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19808 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Perry L Fleisher |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | CAK |
| Departure City | Canton |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FXE |
| Destination City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |