Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Polkton, North Carolina 28135
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 19:39 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The engine lost power in cruise flight at night, and the pilot's attempts to restore engine power were unsuccessful. During forced landing, the airplane collided onto a berm. Examination revealed the right main fuel tank was empty, the electric fuel boost pump operated, and no mechanical defect was determined. The airplane's engine was disassembled, inspected, reassembled, and test run for 2 hours 15 minutes with no mechanical malfunction observed. The engine was reinstalled on the airplane, the airplane was returned to service, and the engine again lost power during a subsequent flight on February 8, 2005. Following second mishap, test bench examination of the engine-driven fuel pump revealed excessive fuel leakage from the shaft seal at the drive end of the pump. Disassembly examination of the unit revealed the rotor seal at the pump's drive end was worn beyond manufacturer's specifications, and wear and damage to the rotor interface with the drive coupling were observed.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to the failure of the engine-driven fuel pump, which resulted in fuel starvation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/5/2005
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1939
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Polkton
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 28135
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 345927N
Event Location Longitude 0800947W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1951 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KCLT
Elevation of weather observation facility 748
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KCLT 052251Z 19005KT 10SM FEW045 SCT180 BKN2
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 Docket Number (internal use) 18744
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Jan 5 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2020
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2005 6:27AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA Charlotte FSDO - 33

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N364BW
NTSB Number ATL05LA039
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32-300
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 32-7240005
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jan 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 6.3
Airframe Hours 9068.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Race City Air LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 8701 Aviation Blvd
Aircraft Owner City Concord
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 28027
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Package Express
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 X6PA
Owner has at least one certificate --
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KMYR
Departure City Myrtle Beach
Departure State SC
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1845
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KJQF
Destination City Concord
Destination State NC
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 21 2005 10:24AM
User who most recently changed record POWP
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 --