Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Michigan, Wisconsin
Monday, April 25, 2005 23:43 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a loss of engine power while flying over Lake Michigan. The pilot survived the ditching and is presumed to be fatal. The pilot was attempting to fly from Niagara Falls, New York, to Madison, Wisconsin, without a fuel stop. The total distance between the two airports was 454.8 nautical miles (nm) and crosses over Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The accident flight was about 4 hours and 7 minutes in duration and the airplane traveled about 390 nm. The pilot departed with full fuel tanks or 48 gallons of useable fuel. The fuel endurance for the accident airplane was about 4.5 hours at the 75% best power setting. The listed fuel flow value assumed a properly leaned engine. The fuel flow values for engine power settings greater than 75% were not listed in the airplane performance documentation. The pilot reportedly told a line technician at the departure airport that the flight was "planned for three hours and he had four hours of fuel on board." The accident airplane flew over Muskegon County Airport, Muskegon, Michigan, just before crossing the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. At this point the airplane had been airborne for about 3 hours and 24 minutes. The pilot decided that he would need to divert for fuel a few minutes before completely running out of available fuel. The airplane exhausted all available fuel after being airborne for about 4 hours and 2 minutes. The prevailing winds aloft were out of the west and averaged 30 knots at the accident airplane's cruising altitudes. The airplane was salvaged and no mechanical anomalies were found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inaccurate preflight planning and his delayed en route decision to make a fuel stop, which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and subsequent ditching.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/25/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2343 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lake Michigan |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430212N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0874513W |
| 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 | 2352 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 723 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.41 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20907 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 26 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 40 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 9:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration - Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5360F |
| NTSB Number | CHI05FA180 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| 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-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7790099 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Dec 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 87 |
| Airframe Hours | 8415 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wisconsin Aviation Four Lakes, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3606 Corben Court |
| Aircraft Owner City | Madison |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53704 |
| 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 | IAG |
| Departure City | Niagara Falls |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2033 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MSN |
| Destination City | Madison |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2006 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| 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 | -- |