Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Erie International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Erie, Pennsylvania 16505
Saturday, August 13, 2005 21:14 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had planned a round-trip cross country flight, with several stops. The airplane was fueled the night prior, and the pilot completed five legs of the trip uneventfully. He did not purchase fuel at the third airport, and remarked about the price. Fuel was not available at the fourth airport, and the pilot did not utilize the after hours telephone number at the fifth airport. While en route to the sixth airport, the pilot reported fuel exhaustion to ATC, and subsequently performed a forced landing in a wooded area. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the left wing fuel tank was compromised. The right wing fuel tank remained intact, and contained about 16 ounces of fuel, with some water observed in the fuel sample. Review of an owner's handbook for the make and model accident airplane revealed that the fuel capacity was 50 gallons, and the engine consumed 10 gallons of fuel per hour at a 75-percent power setting, resulting in a 5-hour endurance. Examination of fueling logs revealed that the airplane had flown approximately 5.07 hours tachometer time, or 5.7 Hobbs hours, since the last refueling.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in fuel exhaustion on approach, and subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/13/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2114 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Erie |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16505 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 420455N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801034W |
| Event Location Airport | Erie International Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ERI |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 733 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2130 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ERI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 733 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20015 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 13 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Allegheny, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7534W |
| NTSB Number | NYC05LA134 |
| 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-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-1463 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 125 |
| Airframe Hours | 4532 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James G. Conk |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Smyrna |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19977 |
| 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 | JHW |
| Departure City | Jamestown |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2050 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ERI |
| Destination City | Erie |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2006 4:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 6500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |