Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tallassee, Alabama 36078
Saturday, July 10, 2004 2:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he performed a preflight on the airplane and that he observed the fuel tanks to be "half full". The pilot then took off from Wetumpka Municipal Airport and went to Autauga County Airport in Prattville, Alabama where he performed three touch and go landings and flew around the local area. The pilot went back to Wetumpka and performed four touch and go landings. From there, the pilot decided that he would fly to Auburn, Alabama. While en route, the pilot stated that he "fell asleep and ran the left fuel tank empty." His next memory was the impact with the ground in a cotton field. Examination of the airplane revealed the wreckage path was approximately 50 feet long on a heading of 210 degrees. All three landing gears were separated from the airplane and both propeller blades were bent aft with no rotational twisting of the blades. The engine mount was broken, the throttle control was found closed, the mixture was found full rich and the fuel selector was found on the left tank. No fuel was found in the left fuel tank, however 10 to 15 gallons of fuel were found in the right fuel tank.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's mismanagement of the fuel supply, which resulted in fuel starvation and the subsequent loss of engine power. A factor was pilot fatigue and the unauthorized use of the airplane .

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/10/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 200
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Tallassee
Event State ALABAMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 36078
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 323100N
Event Location Longitude 0855300W
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 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 535 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID AUO
Elevation of weather observation facility 777
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 19
Time Zone of the weather observation UTC
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.17
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16223
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 10 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1320
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Birmingham FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6AU
NTSB Number ATL04CA149
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-28-161
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-7816212
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Apr 20 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 8.8
Airframe Hours 3656.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jules M Moffett
Aircraft Owner Street Address 115 Alabama Highway 14
Aircraft Owner City Elmore
Aircraft Owner State AL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 36025
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Jules Moffet
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 1115 Alabama Hwy 14
Operator City Elmore
Operator State AL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 36025
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 08A
Departure City Wetumpka
Departure State AL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2330
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Auburn
Destination State AL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 30 2004 2:04PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --