Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Horse Feathers Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Midland, Virginia 22728
Monday, September 1, 2003 18:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed with about 15 gallons of fuel in the airplane, and flew for about 1 hour 15 minutes, when the engine lost power, about 1 mile from the airport. As the pilot prepared for a forced landing to a field, he noted the left fuel gauge read 1/8-full, and the right fuel gauge, indicated just less than 1/4-full. During the landing rollout, the pilot applied right rudder to stay aligned with the field, and the airplane nosed-over. An on-scene examination of the airplane revealed no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. During the recovery of the airplane, it was noted that "little" fuel was left in the fuel tanks; however, the fuel vent system consisted of drilled holes in the fuel tank caps, and the surrounding vegetation in the area of the fuel tanks appeared discolored and had an odor consistent with aviation fuel. The engine was test run on the airframe, using its own fuel system. It started and ran through various power settings for several minutes, with no abnormalities noted. According to the Piper PA-18 Owner's Handbook, the fuel consumption for the airplane was 9 gallons per hour.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power due to unknown circumstances.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Midland |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22728 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383802N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0774526W |
| Event Location Airport | Horse Feathers Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 53VA |
| 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 | 390 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1836 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HEF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 192 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| 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) | 16584 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Washington DC, FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 2 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 755 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dulles FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7615Z |
| NTSB Number | NYC03LA187 |
| 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-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-8398 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | 1455 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Norman Robinson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Herndon |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20171 |
| 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 | 53VA |
| Departure City | Midland |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 53VA |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 3 2004 10:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| 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 | -- |